Last of the Three GLONASS satellite Now Active

Now transmitting L-band signals on its assigned frequency channel (6), the GLONASS 729 which was launched December 25, 2008 is now active in space and is being tracked by a number of International GNSS Service (IGS) stations.
Earlier, GLONASS 727 (Kosmos 2447) in Plane 1, Slot 3, on frequency channel 5 has been set healthy in both the almanac and ephemerides. 727 is the second of three new GLONASS satellites, all launched on December 25, 2008, to reach this status; and as of January 16, the L-band transmitters of GLONASS 728 had been activated on its assigned frequencies. GLONASS 728 became active on January 15 and has been added to the broadcast almanac and ephemerides.
GLONASS 729 in orbital Slot 8 is not yet included in almanacs and has not yet been set healthy. This is expected to occur within the next few days. The trio are now nevertheless active and being monitored by a numner of international IGS stations.