The most recently launched GLONASS-M satellite, (GC#753), was set healthy on Monday (June 27, 2016).
The satellite, designed and built by Academician M.F. Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, was put into orbit on May 29. It replaces an eight-year-old satellite (GC#723) in orbital plane 2, slot 11. GC#723 has been placed in reserve status.
The most recently launched GLONASS-M satellite, (GC#753), was set healthy on Monday (June 27, 2016).
The satellite, designed and built by Academician M.F. Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, was put into orbit on May 29. It replaces an eight-year-old satellite (GC#723) in orbital plane 2, slot 11. GC#723 has been placed in reserve status.
The GLONASS constellation currently has 27 operational spacecraft, 24 of which are transmitting “healthy” signals, two as on-orbit spares, and a GLONASS-K satellite undergoing flight tests. Seven GLONASS-M satellites are stored at ISS-Reshetnev’s facilities as ground spares. Another has been out of service since 2014 but remains in the constellation almanac and monitored by the satellite prime contractor.
Meanwhile, according to the TASS state news agency, the state corporation "Roscosmos" has ordered the delivery of three Soyuz-2.1b rockets for launching GLONASS-M satellites from the Plesetsk in 2017. Launch of a Proton rocket with three GLONASS satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is expected by the end of this year.
