GLONASS-K (originally called Uragan-K) spacecraft are the third generation of GLONASS navigation satellites. These satellites have an increased lifetime of 10 - 12 years, reduced weight of only 935 kg, and offer an additional L-Band navigational signal.

GLONASS (Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System) is a Russian space-based navigation system comparable to the American GPS system.

The operational system contains 21 satellites in 3 orbital planes, with 3 on-orbit spares. GLONASS provides 100 meters accuracy with its C/A (deliberately degraded) signals and 10-20 meter accuracy with its P (military) signals.

Courtesy of NASA

Image: GLONASS-K Satellite, as displayed at CeBit 2011.

Meet part of Roscosmos’s 21st century version of the Soyuz rocket. 

One of the main upgrades included in the Soyuz 2.1b is a completely digital flight control system -- not a small task when the Soyuz rocket was first designed in the 1960s.

Stats

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

This digital Flight Control System allows for greater precision and launch target accuracy.

The Soyuz 2.1b also sports an uprated Blok-I second stage engine, the RD-0124, which provides increased performance.

It was the second of three Soyuz 2 variants to fly, taking its first launch on December 27th, 2006.

The Soyuz 2.1b variant flies under two different national flags and has two different names for the same configuration.

When launching from Baikonur or Plesetsk, the rocket flies as part of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos. For these missions, it is known as the Soyuz 2.1b.

When sold to Arianespace, the European Space Agency's launch management company, the rocket sports a few European modifications, like a European payload adapter and a European flight termination system.

When it flies for Europe, the rocket is known as the Soyuz ST-B.

Image: ESA

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

The site was founded in 1957 to support Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ICBM launches of the R7 missile - from which the Soyuz rockets today are derived.

Site 43 consists of two major launch pads. 43/3 and 43/4. Both of which are active today with over 200 and 300 launches respectively.

Plesetsk was not as busy as Baikonur in terms of satellite launches from its founding in 1957 to 2000 due to its location and ability to only launch crafts to Molniya and polar orbits.

With the fall of the Soviet Union and the Baikonur Cosmodrome becoming foreign territory for Russia, Plesetsk has been far more active since the 2000s.

It is primarily used for military and commercial launches to high inclination and polar orbits.

It has been the site of three fatal ground accidents that have killed 58 people.

In 1973, a Cosmos-3M rocket exploded on the launch pad killing 9; in 1980, a Vostok-2M rocket exploded during fueling, killing 48; in 2002, a Soyuz-U rocket exploded killing 1 person.