Ekspress (russian: Экспресс meaning Express), is a series of
geostationary communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Ear ...
s owned by
Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC). The first satellite of this kind was launched on 13 October 1994. The satellites are produced by the company
Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev (ISS Reshetnev).
Overview
The Ekspress series of communication satellites (industry code 11F639) was developed by the satellite company
NPO PM
JSC Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev (russian: Информационные спутниковые системы имени академика М. Ф. Решетнёва, Informatsionnye sputnikovye systemy imeny akademika M. F. Reshetnyov ...
as a replacement for the old
Gorizont series of comsats. The first satellite of the series, Ekspress 1, was launched in 1994. It had a mass of 2500 kg, 17 channels and an operational lifetime of at 5–7 years.
Starting in the mid-1990s, NPO PM started to make significant effort to close the technology gap between Russian and Western communication satellites.
[ Cooperation with the French company Alcatel (now Thales Alenia Space) was begun in 1995.] The first satellite of a new second series, Ekspress A-1, had 12 Alcatel-built transponders. It was lost in a rocket failure in 1999, but a replacement, Ekspress A-2 was successfully launched in March 2000.
A major improvement was the Ekspress AM version, first launched in 2003. It has an operational lifetime of 12–15 years and is able to carry 38 channels, including digital TV, radio, broadband and internet.[ The launch of the Ekspress AM-3 spacecraft in June 2005 completed the modernization of Russia's communications satellite network.]
Other versions include the Ekspress 2000, which has a mass of 3200 kg. It has up to 60 transponders, power of 25 kW and a lifetime of 15 years. Satellites using this platform are called the Ekspress AT series and the Ekspress AM30 and AM40 series. Ekspress 1000 is smaller than the 2000 version; 700 kg to 1400 kg, 10 to 12 transponders, 2 kW of power and a lifetime of 15 years. Satellites based on Ekspress 1000 are called Ekspress AK or in its navigational version GLONASS-K.
The developer NPO PM later changed its name to Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev (ISS Reshetnev). From 1999 to 2005, nine Ekspress-A and Ekspress-AM satellites were manufactured by the company.
On 28 August 2008 Ekspress-AM1 switched to DVB-S2 broadcasting system and became the first DVB-S2 satellite in Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
(CIS) countries.
The Ekspress AM4
Ekspress-AM4 was a Russian communications satellite placed into the wrong orbit from a faulty Briz-M rocket stage. This satellite was to be part of the Ekspress series of geostationary communications satellites owned by Russian Satellite Commun ...
satellite was launched on 17 August 2011, but an anomaly with the Proton-M
The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet-developed Proton. It is built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome i ...
/Briz-M
The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-M (russian: Бриз-К, КM and M meaning ''Breeze-K, KM and M'') are Russian liquid-propellant rocket orbit insertion upper stages manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and used on ...
rocket left it in a useless orbit. The satellite was intentionally deorbited 26 March 2012, despite proposals to place the satellite into a higher-inclination orbit to provide coverage of the Antarctic
The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and o ...
. The Ekspress-MD2 satellite was lost in a similar failure in August 2012, when the Briz-M
The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-M (russian: Бриз-К, КM and M meaning ''Breeze-K, KM and M'') are Russian liquid-propellant rocket orbit insertion upper stages manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and used on ...
failed at the start of its third burn.
Satellites
Between 2000 and 2015, the following Ekspress satellites were launched. All launched were conducted from Baikonour Cosmodrome using the Proton rocket.
* Ekspress A2 12 March 2000.
* Ekspress A3 24 June 2000.
* Ekspress A4 10 June 2002.
* Ekspress AM22
Ekspress-AM22 (russian: Экспресс-АМ22, meaning ''Express-AM22'') is a Russian communications satellite. It belongs to the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) based in Moscow, Russia.
Eutelsat SESAT-2
The satellite has a ...
29 December 2003.
* Ekspress AM11 27 April 2004.
* Ekspress AM1 30 October 2004.
* Ekspress AM2 29 March 2005.
* Ekspress AM3 24 June 2005.[
* ]Ekspress AM4
Ekspress-AM4 was a Russian communications satellite placed into the wrong orbit from a faulty Briz-M rocket stage. This satellite was to be part of the Ekspress series of geostationary communications satellites owned by Russian Satellite Commun ...
17 August 2011.
* Ekspress AM4R
Ekspress-AM4R (russian: Экспресс-АМ4Р meaning ''Express-AM4R'') was a Russian communications satellite intended for operation by the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC). Constructed as a replacement for Ekspress-AM4, w ...
16 May 2014.
* Ekspress AM6
Ekspress-AM6 (russian: Экспресс-АМ6 meaning ''Express-AM6'') is a Russian communications satellite which was launched in 2014. The satellite has replaced the older Ekspress-AM22, at 53° East. Part of the Ekspress series of geostati ...
21 October 2014.
* Ekspress AM7
Ekspress-AM7 (russian: Экспресс-АМ7 meaning ''Express-AM7'') is a Russian communications satellite operated by the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC).
Satellite description
EADS Astrium, was contracted in March 2012, ...
18 March 2015. Manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space
Airbus Defence and Space is the division of Airbus SE responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation's defence and space products, while also providing related services. The division was formed in January 2014 during the ...
.
* Ekspress AM8
Ekspress-AM8 (russian: Экспресс-АМ8 meaning ''Express-AM8'') is a Russian communications satellite which was launched in 2015. Part of the Ekspress series of geostationary communications satellites, it is owned and operated by the ...
14 September 2015.
On 29 March 2006, the Ekspress AM11 was struck by an unknown object which rendered it inoperable. Luckily, the engineers had enough time in contact with the spacecraft to send it to a parking orbit
A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a spacecraft. A launch vehicle boosts into the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then fires again to enter the final desired trajectory. The alternative to a parking orbit is ''di ...
out of geostationary orbit.["Notification for Express-AM11 satellite users in connection with the spacecraft failure".]
''Russian Satellite Communications Company'', 19 April 2006.
The Ekspress AM4R
Ekspress-AM4R (russian: Экспресс-АМ4Р meaning ''Express-AM4R'') was a Russian communications satellite intended for operation by the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC). Constructed as a replacement for Ekspress-AM4, w ...
was launched 16 May 2014 on a Russian Proton-M
The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet-developed Proton. It is built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome i ...
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and syste ...
. The launch vehicle exploded 540 seconds into the flight, shortly before the end of the third-stage engine firing. Ekspress AM4R was a total loss.
The Ekspress AM8 was launched successfully on 14 September 2015.Proton rocket takes off with Express AM8 communications bird
''Spaceflight Now'', 14 September 2015, accessed 6 March 2016 It uses the Ekspress-1000NTB bus.
References
External links
*
{{Ekspress
Communications satellites of Russia
Communications satellite constellations