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Russia launches new communications satellite

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti) - A new-generation telecommunications satellite was launched in the night of June 24-25 from the Baikonur Space Center (Kazakhstan), a leading business daily, Vedomosti, reported today.

With the launch of the Express-AM3, Kosmicheskaya Svyaz (Space Communication), Russia's national satellite operator, completed a program to renew the country's satellite system.

The guaranteed service life of the Express-AM in orbit is 12 years. The coverage zone of satellites from this family extends over Siberia and the Far East, as well as countries in Asia and the Asia-Pacific Rim (Mongolia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia).

The total capacity of the Kosmicheskaya Svyaz satellite group is now 352 conventional transponders (antennas), 36 MHz each, some of which have been bought by foreign companies. European operator Eutelsat has leased 20 transponders and Intersputnik, an open intergovernmental organization with 25 member states, has leased another 12. The paper cites experts as saying that the satellite is a clear example of how Russia can export high technologies as well as orbiting services.

The program to renew the Russian satellite group was launched in 2001 and the first of the five satellites was orbited in December 2003. The program's total budget came to $770 million.

Kosmicheskaya Svyaz said that the new satellite had moved the company up from tenth to eighth in the rating list of the world's biggest satellite operators.

The company has Russia's largest group of satellites, 16, covering Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific Rim, the Americas and Australia.