The satellite, designed by the Reshetnev Applied Mechanics Science and Production Association to provide TV and satellite communications all over Russia, was launched on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
It is the first satellite to have been manufactured for the RSCC under the Russian Federal Space Program for 2006-2015. As well as Russia, the satellite covers parts of Central Asia, Mongolia, and China.
The Express-AM33 service life is 12 years. It has adjustable antennas and can change the coverage area if necessary. The on-the-ground receivers to be used with the satellite are reportedly cheaper, as they need no automatic tracking devices.
The RSCC, founded in 1967, is a top-ten world satellite communications provider with the largest number of satellites in Russia and full coverage of the Russian Federation, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific Region, North and Latin America, and Australia.
The company provides presidential and governmental satellite communications and broadcasts federal TV channels in Russia and abroad.
