Soyuz rocket deploys upgraded Russian navigation craft

A new navigation satellite lifted off aboard a Soyuz rocket Sunday and reached an orbital perch 12,000 miles above Earth to test upgraded capabilities aimed at improving positioning services for Russian military and civilian users. The spacecraft will join Russia’s Glonass navigation system, an analog to the U.S. military’s GPS network. The Glonass satellite launched at 2152 GMT (4:52 p.m. EST) Sunday on top of a Soyuz 2-1b booster from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military facility about 500 miles north of Moscow, according to Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 1)