GLONASS Satellites Moving to New Slots
News courtesy of CANSPACE listserv.
On December 21, 2012, GLONASS 712 was deactivated and replaced in almanac slot 8 by GLONASS 743, transmitting on frequency channel -6 (minus 6). At the time, the satellite was physically in orbital slot 2.
On January 4, the GLONASS System Control Centre announced that GLONASS 743 was to be moved from orbital slot 2 to orbital slot 8 beginning on January 5. The move is expected to take until February 15. IGS M-GEX stations stopped tracking GLONASS 743 at about 05:23:30 GPS Time on January 5.
Subsequently, the GLONASS System Control Centre announced that GLONASS 701K, the GLONASS-K test satellite (also known as GLONASS 801 by the
IGS), was re-introduced into the broadcast almanac beginning January 6. It will use almanac slot 8 and transmit on frequency channel -5 (minus 5). Note that the satellite is physically near orbital slot 21. Experimental work with GLONASS 701K will continue until GLONASS 743 completes its orbital slot move.
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