Russia launched a carrier rocket Thursday to put three navigation satellites into orbit, authorities said.

The Proton-M carrier blasted off at 1:43 p.m. Moscow time (1043 GMT) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan with three Glonass navigation satellites on board, a spokesman for the Russian Space Troops was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Glonass, a Global Navigation Satellite System, is the Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2008)