Russia to add GPS satellites

MOSCOW, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Russia will launch two more navigation satellites by year's end as part of Glonass, the Russian equivalent of the U.S. global positioning system, officials say.

"We plan to put two more satellites into operation before the end of the year, and another at the beginning of 2012," the Roskosmos space agency said Thursday.

Twenty-four Glonass satellites providing global coverage are already in orbit, with the last satellite, launched from the Baikonur Space Center last month, put into operation Wednesday.

The Russian system is designed for both military and civilian uses, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.