In other Russian space news from Berlin, officials have announced plans to supplement its global navigation satellite system with five new satellites this year and three more next year, the head of a leading spacecraft manufacturer said Wednesday.

Andrei Kozlov, the head of the Reshetnev Research and Production Center in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, said the Glonass system currently had 13 satellites in orbit.

President Vladimir Putin ordered in December 2005 that the system should be ready by 2008 and in March this year Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Glonass would be available to domestic consumers for military as well for civilian purposes by the end of 2007.

The first launch under the Glonass program took place October 12, 1982, but the system was only formally launched September 24, 1993.

The satellites currently in use are of two modifications - Glonass and its updated version Glonass-M. Glonass-M has a longer service life of seven years and is equipped with updated antenna feeder systems and an additional navigation frequency for civilian users.

A future modification, Glonass-K, is an entirely new model based on a non-pressurized platform, standardized to the specifications of the previous models' platform, Express-1000.

Glonass-Ks are small spacecraft that are considerably lighter than their previous models, which makes them less costly to put into orbit. Their weight also allows the use of a wider range of carrier rockets. Glonass-Ks' estimated service life has been increased to 10-12 years and a third "civilian" L-range frequency was added.

Tests on Glonass-K satellites are scheduled for 2007.

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