Flight tests of Russia's GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) began in 1982 with the launch of the Kosmos-1413 satellite. The system was officially declared operational in 1993 and reached full operational capacity in 1995 with a constellation of 24 first-generation GLONASS satellites.

Since then, GLONASS has been preserved, modernized, and upgraded with GLONASS-K satellites, ensuring continued functionality as one of the two existing global navigation satellite systems alongside GPS.

The ground control segment has also been modernized, improving the system’s accuracy to levels comparable to GPS. Additionally, advancements have been made in time and frequency standards and Earth rotation parameter calculations.

Further improvements to GLONASS and user navigation equipment are necessary, particularly for high-precision applications requiring real-time accuracy at the decimeter and centimeter level. Enhancing interference resistance and improving navigation reliability for air, sea, and ground transport are also key priorities.

Since 2012, GLONASS has been evolving to support Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions that benefit defense, security, and socioeconomic development, ensuring its long-term role in both national and global applications.

Credit: GLONASS

Meet Roscosmos’s 21st-century upgrade of the Soyuz rocket: the Soyuz 2.1b.

One of the most significant advancements in this variant is the completely digital flight control system, a major technological leap for a rocket family originally designed in the 1960s.

Specs

Height: 46.3 m (152 ft)

Diameter: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)

Mass: 312,000 kg (688,000 lb)

Stages: 2 or 3

The digital flight control system enhances launch precision and target accuracy, making the Soyuz 2.1b more reliable for a wide range of missions.

Additionally, this variant features an upgraded Blok-I second-stage engine, the RD-0124, which provides improved performance and efficiency over earlier models.

The Soyuz 2.1b was the second of three Soyuz 2 variants to enter service, making its debut launch on December 27, 2006.

Two Names, Two Flags

This rocket flies under two different names, depending on the launch operator:

- Soyuz 2.1b: When launching under Roscosmos from Baikonur or Plesetsk.

- Soyuz ST-B: When sold to Arianespace for European launches. This version includes European modifications, such as a European payload adapter and a European flight termination system.

Image: ESA

The Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located 800 km north of Moscow, Russia.

Founded in 1957, it was originally established to support the Soviet Union’s R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches—the same rocket family that later evolved into the Soyuz launch vehicle used today.

From its inception until 2000, Plesetsk was less active than Baikonur Cosmodrome due to its geographic limitations, primarily allowing launches into Molniya and polar orbits. However, following the fall of the Soviet Union and Russia’s loss of direct control over Baikonur (now in Kazakhstan), Plesetsk has seen a significant increase in launch activity, particularly since the early 2000s.

Today, Plesetsk is primarily used for military and commercial launches to high-inclination and polar orbits.

The site has also been the location of three fatal ground accidents, resulting in a total of 58 casualties:

- 1973: A Cosmos-3M rocket exploded on the launch pad, killing 9 people.

- 1980: A Vostok-2M rocket exploded during fueling, killing 48 people.

- 2002: A Soyuz-U rocket explosion resulted in 1 fatality.

Image: Roscosmos