They have been launched aboard a Proton rocket

Dec 15, 2009 08:15 GMT  ·  By
The Proton rocket roars to the sky, carrying three new satellites for the Glonass navigation system
   The Proton rocket roars to the sky, carrying three new satellites for the Glonass navigation system

Yesterday, the Russian space agency, RosCosmos, launched an additional three satellites to the Earth's orbit, all aboard a Proton delivery system. The new instruments are scheduled to become a part of the Glonass navigation system, which the country is developing as an alternative to the American-built Global Positioning System (GPS). The three new satellites were launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the Kazakh steppes, and Russian officials say that they have all been successfully deployed into their respective orbits by the upper stage of the Proton rocket.

The launch took place at 1038 GMT (5:38 am EST), with the delivery system's six main engines roaring to life and taking the payload out of sight in no time. This was the 350th flight of the rocket, which has become the workhorse of the Russian space agency over the years, due to its very high success rate. It is one of the most commonly used delivery systems in the world, and is preferred by a very large number of satellite operators and manufacturers, due to the high probability that it would get the job done.

The six main engines that power up Proton's first stage consume hydrazine fuel, which is highly toxic and dangerously unstable. For comparison, the space shuttles' fuel is largely based on liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, which are more stable and reliable than hydrazine. The rocket itself weighs about 693 tons for a 3-stage configuration, but has the ability to carry 20.7 tons of cargo to the low-Earth orbit.

The new addition to the Glonass fleet brings the grand total of system components to 19 satellites. However, according to a recent press release from the Russian space agency, one needs to be decommissioned soon, whereas two others are shut down for maintenance purposes. Experts estimate that a number of 18 fully functioning satellites are required to cover the entire Russian territory. For global coverage, 24 instruments should suffice.

An additional Glonass mission is scheduled to take place in February. Initially, there were two flights scheduled for this year, but one of them was delayed due to technical issues. Russia is not the only country well on its way to breaking the American domination over satellite navigation systems. The European Union and China are also developing their individual satellite networks, for which they plan either partial or global coverage, Space reports.