The Russian "Proton-M” rocket-carrier with three Glonass satellites was successfully launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome on March 2, 2010 at 00:19 Moscow time (21:19 UTC, March 1).
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.
Russia currently has a total of 22 Glonass satellites in orbit, but only 16 of them are operational. The system requires 18 operational satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of Russia and at least 24 satellites to provide navigation services worldwide.
