samedi 15 mars 2014

Successful launch for Proton-M with Express-AT1 and Express-AT2 aboard












ROSCOSMOS logo.

March 15, 2014

Proton-M whit Express-AT1 & Express-AT2 at the launch-pad, ready for launch

A Russian Proton-M rocket successfully launched from Baikonur this evening, March 15th 2014 at 23:08 GMT.

Russian Proton-M Rocket Launches Express AT1 & AT2 satellites


The rocket carried two communications satellites into orbit. Built for the Russian Satellite Communications Company Express AT1 and Express AT2 were placed into orbit.

Express AT1 communication satellite
 
Express-AT2 communication satellite

AT1 will be positioned at 56 degrees East with 32 Ku-Band transponders to cover Russia. AT2 will be positioned at 140 degrees East and will serve the Western portion of Russia. Express-AT2, with 3 kilowatts of power for 16 Ku-band transponders.

Ku-band coverage by AT1 Wide
 
 Ku-band coverage by AT1 East

Ku-band coverage by AT2

The Express-AT 2 is a Direct-To-Home broadcasting satellite for russian domestic communication services. While the spacecraft itself is built by russian RSCC (Kosmicheskiya Svyaz), the communication payload is built by Thales Alenia Space.

Related link:

Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC): http://eng.rscc.ru/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS / ROSCOSMOS TV / TsENKI TV / RSCC / Orbiter.ch Aerospace.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch