Russia launched three navigation satellites into orbit today. The Proton-M rocket carrying the Glonass satellites lifted off early this morning from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<br/><br/>The Khrunichev Aerospace Centre said that the satellites were expected to separate from the DM-2 booster and take planned positions about three and a half hours after the launch.<br/><br/>This is the first launch of the Glonass satellite this year. Glonass, the Global Navigation Satellite System, is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System . Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.<br/>