Russia launched Proton-M rocket with navigation satellites

MOSCOW. November 5. KAZINFORM A Proton-M rocket carrying three Glonass navigation satellites blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Friday, Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.

Roscosmos' live broadcast of the launch on its official website showed the Proton-M rocket lift off at 16:51 Moscow time (1251 GMT). Roscosmos said separation of the satellites was scheduled at 22:41 Moscow time (1841 GMT) on Friday.

According to Xinhua, the launch of the Proton-M was postponed from Thursday due to technical reasons.

The launch was the 370th of the Proton rocket and the first after a failed attempt that sent three Glonass-M satellites into the Pacific Ocean.

Glonass, the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), is designed for both military and civilian use. The system requires 24 operational and 2-3 reserve satellites in orbit to ensure global coverage.

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