MOSCOW, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia launched a carrierrocket Thursday to put three navigationsatellites into orbit, authorities said.

The Proton-M carrier blasted off at 1:43 p.m. Moscow time (1043GMT) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan with three Glonass navigationsatellites 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.
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