Russia’s launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center has been delayed due to a problem with one of Glonass-M satellites, a source at the launch facility in Kazakhstan.
Roscosmos spokesman Alexander Vorobyov on Monday denied reports in a number of media that the launch of a number of Glonass satellites had been delayed. Russia planned two launches of a total of six satellites this year.
Last week the launch of a Soyuz 2.1b rocket with a Russian weather satellite on board was delayed twice due to poor weather and technical problems. The satellite was successfully put into orbit on Thursday.
Glonass – the Global Navigation Satellite System – is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.
The system reportedly has the 18 satellites needed for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of the Russian Federation, with 24 satellites required to provide services worldwide.
A total of 9.9 billion rubles was allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in
2007, and 4.7 billion rubles in 2006.