Russia launched new generation GLONASS-K navigation satellite

Russia on 30 November 2014 launched the new generation navigation satellite GLONASS-K from the Plesetsk space centre in Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region.

The satellite was launched on a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage. The carrier rocket was launched in a normal mode.

This is the fifth launch of a Global Navigation Satellite System satellite (GLONASS) from the Plesetsk space centre. The first launch of a GLONASS satellite from Plesetsk took place on 26 February 2011.

GLONASS-K
• GLONASS is a space-based satellite navigation system operated by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces and is Russia’s counterpart of the US Global Positioning System (GPS).
• Developed by the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, the GLONASS-K marks a substantial improvement over the previous GLONASS-M second-generation satellites.
• The K Series are an advanced improvement of the previous M second-generation satellites with longer lifespan and better accuracy.
• By 2010, GLONASS achieved 100 percent coverage of Russia’s territory.
• In October 2011, the full orbital constellation of 24 satellites was restored which allowed the system to cover the entire globe.