Ground stations take control of Glonass-M satellite
MOSCOW. Sept 22 (Interfax-AVN) - A Russian Glonass-M navigation satellite launched by a Space Forces crew from the Plesetsk cosmodrome reached the designated orbit on time, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry's information and mass communications department told Interfax-AVN.
"Ground stations of the Space Forces' Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Center have taken control of the satellite," the department said.
"Steady telemetric contact is being maintained, and the satellite's systems are operating normally," it said.
Glonass-M satellites of the Glonass global positioning system have a mass of 1,415 kilograms and a service life of seven years. They are deployed to a near-circular orbit with an altitude of about 20,000 kilometers.
According to Roscosmos, Glonass-M52 was in the ground reserve of the Glonass system. Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems built the satellite over two years ago, and was responsible for storing it. The satellite's serviceability was tested before it was sent to the cosmodrome.