Article Posted on : - Sep 26, 2009

GLONASS satellite.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia has postponed by a month the launch of its three GLONASS satellites after one of them developed technical snag, head of the country’s Federal Space Agency has said.

Roscosmos chief Anatoly Perminov, however, said on Friday that he was yet to be officially informed about the exact cause of postponement of the launch, RIA Novosti said.

The navigation satellites were scheduled for lift off from Baikanour space centre in Kazakhstan on September 25 (Friday).

“I have to be sure that there will not be any problems with the satellites we are planning to orbit. I believe that a month should be enough for a working group to sort things out, and by the end of 2009, all six Glonass satellites will be launched,” Perminov said.

GLONASS – Global Navigation Satellite System – is an alternative and complementary system to the US’ Global Positioning System, China’s Compass navigation system, and the planned Galileo positioning system of the European Union.

Designed for both military and civilian purposes, GLONASS enables its users to determine their positions within a few meters.

The system requires 18 satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire Russian Federation, and 24 satellites to provide services worldwide.

The six satellites lined up for launch this year in two phases would take the number to 24 required for the worldwide service.