MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) - A Proton-K carrier rocket launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 8:07 a.m. Moscow time (5:07 a.m. GMT) successfully delivered three satellites into designed orbit at 11:39 a.m. Moscow time (8:39 a.m. GMT), the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) said Sunday.
The new satellites, which have an extended seven-year service life, will expand Russia's global navigation satellite system GLONASS.
Under the federal space program approved by the government, the GLONASS satellite group will be expanded to at least 18 satellites by 2007. Currently, the system includes 14 satellites in orbit.
Next year, Russia will launch a new satellite with a ten-year service life to join the GLONASS group.
The main purpose of the GLONASS network is to provide global positioning services for various military and civilian customers.
