Russia to put two more Glonass satellites into operation

Dec 09, 2011 Moscow (RIA Novosti)

Two more Glonass navigation satellites will be up and running before the end of the year, Russian space officials said on Thursday.

"We plan to put two more satellites into operation before the end of the year, and another at the beginning of 2012," the Roscosmos space agency said.

The group of 24 Glonass sat-navs needed to provide global coverage is already in orbit. The last satellite, launched from the Baikonur Space Center last month, was put into operation on Wednesday.

Glonass is Russia's answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian uses.