Ekspress-A2

Ekspress-A2 (Russian: Экспресс-A2 meaning Express-A2), also designated Ekspress-6A No 2 and sometimes erroneously called Ekspress-2A, is a Russian communications satellite which is operated by Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC). It was constructed by NPO PM and Alcatel Space and is based on the MSS-2500-GSO satellite bus.

Ekspress-A2

Names	Экспресс-A2 Express-A2 Ekspress-6A No 2 Ekspress-A No. 2
Mission type	Communications
Operator	Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC)
COSPAR ID	2000-013A
SATCAT no.	26098
Website	eng.rscc.ru
Mission duration	7 years (planned) 15 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Ekspress-A2
Spacecraft type	KAUR
Bus	MSS-2500-GSO
Manufacturer	NPO PM (bus) Alcatel Space (payload)
Launch mass	2,600 kg (5,700 lb)
Power	2540 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	12 March 2000, 04:07:00 UTC
Rocket	Proton-K / Blok DM-2M
Launch site	Baikonur, Site 200/39
Contractor	Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Entered service	May 2000
End of mission
Disposal	Graveyard orbit
Deactivated	October 2015
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Geostationary orbit
Longitude	80° East (2000–2005) 103° East (2005–2014) 145° East (2014–2015)
Transponders
Band	17 transponders: 12 C-band 5 Ku-band
Coverage area	Russia
Ekspress constellation ← Ekspress-A1 Ekspress-A3 →

Satellite

The launch was contracted by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and used a Proton-K / Blok DM-2M launch vehicle flying from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.^[1]

Launch

Ekspress-2A is a Russian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched on 12 March 2000 from Baikonur by a Proton-K launch vehicle at 04:07:00 UTC. USSPACECOM had tentatively named it Express-6A.^[2] The 2,600 kg (5,700 lb) spacecraft carries 12 transponders in C-band and five in Ku-band to provide voice, data, and video communications in Russia from the parked longitude of 80° east, supplementing the existing fleet of seven Gorizont, two Ekspress and an EKRAN-M. Ekspress are scheduled to replace the aging Gorizont fleet.^[3]

Mission

It is part of the Ekspress network of satellites. Following its launch and on-orbit testing, it was placed in geostationary orbit at 103° East, from where it provides communications services to Russia.^[4] It is equipped with seventeen transponders. In October 2015, the satellite was retired and moved to a graveyard orbit above the geostationary orbit.