Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) is just about complete, thanks to a late-night launch yesterday of the system’s three remaining satellites. GLONASS is similar to our GPS system here and will initially cover most of Russia and then, by 2009, the world.
There are 24 satellites in all, with the purpose of giving the Russian military "exact bearings around the world."
Russia began developing the system in the 70’s but work was stalled in the late 90’s due to the country’s economic hardships.