OREANDA-NEWS. The telecommunications spacecraft Express-AM5, designed and constructed by ISS-Reshetnev Company, has finally completed a 2.5-month journey to its intended position in geostationary orbit.

The satellite which was launched on December 26, 2013 has arrived at the orbital slot of 145° East. It took the satellite 73 days instead of the expected 90 to arrive at its destination using on-board electrical propulsion system. Such a transfer injection scenario was applied for the first time not only in the history of ISS-Reshetnev Company but of the whole Russian aerospace industry as well. It was decided to do so because a Proton-M/Breeze-M rocket's launch capacity appeared to be insufficient to deliver the 3358-kilogram Express-AM5 satellite directly to the assigned orbital position in GEO.

Express-AM5 is the first spacecraft built by ISS-Reshetnev Company around its unpressurized heavy-class Express-2000 satellite platform. It carries 84 transponders in the Ka, C, Ku and L frequency bands. With the platform capable of providing 12.1 kW of power to the payload at EOL, this spacecraft is the largest and by far the most powerful Russian telecommunications satellite manufactured to date.

Once the satellite undergoes payload flight tests at the orbital location of 145? East, it will be moved to its operational slot of 140? East, from which it will provide a wide range of services including digital television and radio broadcasting, mobile presidential and government communications, multimedia services (telephony, videoconferencing, data transmission, and Internet access) as well as solutions based on VSAT network technologies.