On December 5, 2010 at 13:25:19 MSK (10:25:19 UTC) the Space Forces launched a Proton-M space launcher from the launch site No. 81 of the Baykonur space launch site. The launcher, equipped with the DM-3 booster stage, carried three new Glonass-M satellites. The launcher, however, failed to place the satellites into the orbit and they re-entered the atmosphere over the Pacific.

Preliminary reports indicate that the failure was a result of an error during the pre-launch preparation of the DM-3 booster stage.

Previous Glonass-M launch took place in September 2010.