ZHUKOVSKY /Moscow Region/, July 21. /TASS/. The launch of first Russia’s next-generation Glonass-K2 navigation satellite has been postponed until 2022, a rocket and space industry source told TASS on the sidelines of the MAKS 2021 international air show.

"Glonass-K2 will be ready this year, with the possibility of being launched early next year," the source said.

Glonass-K2 is the next-generation navigational satellite of Russia’s Glonass positioning system. On April 22, CEO of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company (the satellites’ producer) Nikolai Testoyedov told TASS the inaugural launch of the spacecraft was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021.

In October last year, Glonass chief designer Sergei Karutin told TASS that Glonass-K2 satellites will provide navigation precision of less than 30 cm. In turn, Testoyedov said that the new satellites’ launch was postponed from 2020 to 2021. According to the official, a portion of onboard equipment required further work during ground experimental run.