Glonass-K1 No. 18 (Kosmos 2595) & Kosmos 2596 Mission

Launch Service Provider

Russian Space Forces

Vehicle

Soyuz 2.1b Fregat

Glonass-K1 are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite navigation system. GLONASS is a Russian space-based navigation system comparable to the similar GPS and Galileo systems. This generation improves on accuracy, power consumption and design life. Each satellite is unpressurized and weighs 935 kg, and has an operational lifetime of 10 years. This launch also carries Mozhayets-6 (Kosmos 2596), a small experimental satellite built by the Mozhaiskiy Military Space Academy of St. Petersburg.