Launch of Russia’s Next-Generation Glonass-K Satellite Postponed Until October, Source Reveals

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The launch of Russia’s next-generation Glonass-K navigation satellite, which has been postponed several times since March, is planned for mid-October, a space industry revealed on Saturday.

"The launch of Glonass-K satellite has been postponed until October. The preliminary date of the launch is 17 October. There are no any technical difficulties to carry out the launch", the source said.

In early August, another space industry source stated that the launch of the satellite was planned for the end of the month.

The Glonass-K satellite, the third Russian navigation satellite of the type, is planned to be launched using the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat upper-stage booster.

The first Glonass-K satellite was launched in February 2011, while the second one was launched in December 2014.

There are currently 27 satellites in the Russian Glonass constellation, 23 of them are operational. In February, spokesperson of Russian satellite maker ISS-Reshetnev said that nine next-generation Glonass-K satellites would be added to the constellation by 2022.