MOSCOW, June 10 (RIA Novosti) – A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket is ready for the launch of the GLONASS-M spacecraft scheduled for June 14, Col. Alexei Zolotukhin, a spokesman for Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces, said Tuesday.
Technological operations to assemble the Soyuz rocket have just been completed at the Plesetsk Space Center in northern Russia’s Arkhangelsk region, Zolotukhin said.
Operators have completed the assembly of the fourth stage consisting of a Fregat booster and GLONASS spacecraft and the docking with the Soyuz-2.1b rocket, Zolotukhin said. The decision on the date of the launch is expected to be announced Wednesday.
The Global Navigation Satellite System, which came online in 1993, is a Russian equivalent to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The GLONASS network provides real-time positioning and speed data for land, sea and airborne receivers.
