Soyuz launch restores Russian navigation system

A fresh satellite for Russia's Glonass navigation network launched aboard a modernized Soyuz rocket Sunday on the first flight of the workhorse booster since a mishap doomed a mission in August. The Soyuz 2-1b rocket lifted off at 2015 GMT (4:15 p.m. EDT) Sunday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Launch occurred at 12:15 a.m. Moscow time. The rocket's three core stages finished their work in less than 10 minutes, then a Fregat upper stage fired three times to reach a circular orbit almost 12,000 miles above Earth. More

(Source: Space Flight Now - Oct 3)