Ekspress-AM44 (, meaning ''Express-AM44'') is a Russian domestic
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...
. It belongs to the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) based in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, Russia. To provide of communications services (digital television, telephony, videoconferencing, data transmission, the Internet access, presidential and governmental mobile communications) and to deploy satellite networks by applying
Very-small-aperture terminal
A very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) is a two-way satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3.8 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Bit rates, in most cases, range from 4 kbit/s to ...
(VSAT) technology to Russia.
Satellite description
The satellite has a total of 17
transponders
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
, was 10
C-band, 6
Ku-band
The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally ), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band ...
and 1
L-band
The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of Frequency, frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at t ...
transponders. The Ekspress-AM44 Russian domestic communications satellite, built by
Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev
JSC Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev () is a Russian satellite manufacturing company. It is based in the closed city of Krasnoyarsk-26 (today called Zheleznogorsk), Krasnoyarsk Krai near the city of Krasnoyarsk. The company was formerly ca ...
(NPO PM) for
Kosmicheskaya Svyaz. The communications payload was built by the French company
Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France.
It provides space-based ...
.
Launch
Ekspress-AM44 was launched by
, using a
Proton-M
The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an Expendable launch system, expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet Union, Soviet-developed Proton (rocket family), Proton. It is built by Khrunichev State R ...
/
Briz-M
The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-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 the Proton-M and Angara A5. T ...
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...
. The launch took place at 00:03:00
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
on 11 February 2009, from
Site 200/39 at
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...
,
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
.
Successfully deployed into
geostationary transfer orbit
In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...
(GTO), Ekspress-AM44 raised itself into an operational geostationary orbit using its
apogee motor
An apogee kick motor (AKM) is a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites to provide the final impulse to change the trajectory from the transfer orbit into its final orbit (most commonly circular orbit, circular). For a ...
.
Mission
Express-AM44 was launched into orbit on 11 February 2009. The commercial operation of the satellite started in April 2009.
The
Ekspress-103 satellite entered in service at orbital position 11° West on 25 March 2021, where it replaced Ekspress-AM44.
References
{{Orbital launches in 2009
Ekspress satellites
Spacecraft launched in 2009
2009 in Russia
Satellites using the KAUR bus