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Proton delivers a pair of Ekspress satellites
Russia's commercial workhorse rocket successfully delivered a pair of communications birds into orbit for the nation's main operator on March 16, 2014.
Proton lifts off with Ekspress-AT1 and AT2 satellites on March 16, 2014. Mission history The joint launch of Ekspress-AT1 and AT2 communications satellites was originally expected in September 2012, but slipped to the third quarter 2013. By October 2013, it was postponed to 2014. By the beginning of that year, the launch was scheduled for March 4. By February, the mission was delayed until March 16. The launch vehicle with the spacecraft was rolled out to the launch pad on March 12, 2014. The spacecraft The Ekspress-AT1 satellite was built at ISS Reshetnev in Zheleznogorsk, Russia, and had a mass of 1,800 kilograms, according to Roskosmos (1,672 kilograms according to ISS Reshetnev). They based on the company's standard Ekspress-1000N platform. The satellite carried 32 Ku-band main transponders and eight backup transponders. It was expected to operate in orbit no less than 15 years providing TV services across western and central Russia, western and central Siberia and most territory of Kazakhstan. The Ekspress-AT2 spacecraft was based on the ISS Reshetnev's standard Ekspress-1000K satellite bus. It had a mass of 1,250 kilograms according to Roskosmos (1,326 kilograms according to ISS Reshetnev). It carried 16 Ku-band main transponders and four backups. With a projected life span of no less than 15 years, the satellite was designed to provide TV services across eastern Russia. As of 2010, one Russian and one Western operator was expected to use satellites' communication capacities. Ekspress-AT1/AT-2 reach orbit A Proton-M/Briz-M launch vehicle lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome's Pad 24 at Site 81 on March 16, 2014, at 03:08:00 Moscow Time (7:08 p.m. EST on February 15). The rocket carried Ekspress-AT1 and Ekspress-AT2 communications satellites for Russian Satellite Communications Company, RSCC. The payload section, comprised of Briz-M stage and a pair of satellites, separated from the third stage of Proton at 03:17 Moscow Time, Roskosmos announced. Briz-M was expected to conduct four engine firings during the mission. According to Roskosmos, Ekspress-AT1 satellite separated from Briz-M into a planned orbit at 12:10 Moscow Time on March 16 (4:10 a.m. EST). The satellite was left in a geostationary transfer orbit and would use its own propulsion system to enter its operational orbit at 56 degrees East longitude over the Equator. Ekspress-AT2 was also successfully released 18 minutes later, the agency said. It was to be positioned at 140 degrees East longitude in the geostationary orbit. According to Roskosmos, it was 395th mission of the Proton rocket and the launch was a complete success. Ekspress-AT1 shuts down prematurely
On March 4, 2026, RIA Novosti reported an emergency situation aboard Ekspress-AT1. It quoted the Kosmicheskaya Svayz operator, GPKS, as saying that specialists had been working on restoring broadcast services from the satellite, however on March 7, the company announced* that the attempts by engineers from ISS Reshetnev to revive the spacecraft, which momentarily ceased operations for an unknown reason, had not been successful and it would have to be considered lost. At the time, the satellite was positioned at 56 degrees East longitude over the Equator. According to GPKS, specialists continued analyzing the situation and worked on neutralizing the consequences of the incident. Some of the customers would have a technical possibility to restore their TV signal within days, but it would require to re-target their reception assets at a different orbital position, the company said. In the meantime, the rest of the Ekspress-AT1 users would have their first opportunity to restore service within a month, according to GPKS. With its failure in 2026, Ekspress-AT1 operated for 12 years out of its 15-year projected life span. Its premature demise came at a time when Roskosmos was transitioning (INSIDER CONTENT) to a fully domestic development of communications satellites for the first time since the Soviet period, due to Western sanctions introduced after Russia's invasion or Ukraine, with multiple prospective missions, including Ekspress AMU-4 (INSIDER CONTENT) and Ekspress-RV (INSIDER CONTENT), experiencing long delays. The Ekspress-AT1 failure coincided with an ongoing tender for its direct replacement designated Ekspress-AT3, which was expected to have the same coverage, but its introduction to service was not expected until the end of 2030 and the funding for the project had to come from the company's own funds, according to GPKS. *As of 2026, access restricted by Russian authorities.
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