Photos: Proton rolls out for navigation mission

A Proton launcher will rocket into orbit Thursday with three Glonass navigation satellites for the Russian government, replenishing the military-run fleet of positioning and timing spacecraft.

The video and images below show the Proton rocket rolling to the launch pad on a train, then being rotated vertically in position for liftoff. Rollout occurred Monday morning at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Launch is set for 1255 GMT (8:55 a.m. EDT) Thursday.

Credit: Roscosmos

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