A Proton-M carrier rocket bearing three Glonass-M navigation satellites will be launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on September 2, Russia's space agency said on Friday.

"Preparation work on one of the three Glonass-M satellites is presently being completed at the Baikonur space center," Roskosmos said in a statement.

The two other satellites will be ready for launch by the end of August.

Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.

Russia currently has a total of 22 Glonass satellites in orbit, but only 16 of them are operational.

The system requires 18 operational satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of Russia and at least 24 satellites to provide navigation services worldwide.