Article Posted on : - Jan 12, 2011

GLONASS satellite.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russian Federal Space Agency expects to start the full- scale operations of Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) by July 2011, a media report said.

“At present, GLONASS has 21 operational satellites among a total 26 satellites of the GLONASS-M type orbiting the Earth,” Itar Tass quoted Director Anatoly Perminov as saying on Tuesday.

By January 18, one more satellite is expected to become operational. In February–March, a GLONASS-K satellite with enhanced features is expected to be put into orbit, thus increasing the number of operational GLONASS satellites to 23, he added.

Overall, Russia requires 18 GLONASS operational satellites to cover its entire territory and almost 24 operational satellites for the global coverage.

The agency is also planing to put three GLONASS satellites into orbit at once in August.