Glonass is global

Russia has put into operation one of its four orbiting reserve satellites to reestablish global coverage provided by its Glonass navigation system, Russian space officials said Thursday, RIA Novosti reports.

Global coverage was interrupted on Monday when Glonass-M satellite # 728 was removed from operation due to a signal transmission failure. Russian experts are attempting to correct the glitch.

“Spacecraft # 747 joined the operation of the Glonass grouping on July 4,” Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on one of its Glonass monitoring websites Thursday.

Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System), which was officially launched in 1993, is Russia’s answer to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). It provides real-time positioning and speed data for surface, sea and airborne objects with an accuracy of one meter.