Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) is to order two new DTH-focused satellites, Express-AT1 and Express-AT2. The company is on the verge of completing the necessary documentation with an RfP to be sent out to manufacturers shortly.
RSCC said…
Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) is to order two new DTH-focused satellites, Express-AT1 and Express-AT2. The company is on the verge of completing the necessary documentation with an RfP to be sent out to manufacturers shortly.
RSCC said that a minimum 25% capacity on the two satellites would be designated for developing digital TV platforms in 3D and HDTV in Russia. The satellite operator added that both spacecraft are scheduled to be launched in 2012.
Express-AT1 will be located at 56E, covering the European part of Russia, the Urals and Eastern Siberia, and will replace Bonum-1, a Boeing-built satellite that was launched in November 1998 and had a contract life of 11 years. Express-AT2 is likely to be located at 36E.
In late 2009, Russian business news firm ComNews claimed that RSCC was considering financing the satellites through a public-private partnership initiative.
RSCC currently has two satellites under construction, Express-AM5 and Express-AM6. Both birds are being built by ISS Reshetnev, with the payloads developed by Canadian manufacturer MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), and both are scheduled for launch in 2012. The financing for the two satellites is covered under the Russian state’s 2006-2015 Federal Space Program for Russia.
