The Ekspress (Russian: ) is a highly flexible satellite bus designed and manufactured by ISS Reshetnev. It is an unpressurized bus originally designed for GEO, but that has been adapted for medium Earth orbit and to highly elliptical orbit. It has different versions and has been used from civilian communications to satellite navigation.

Platform variations The Ekspress bus has two main platforms: the 1000 light to medium version and the 2000, for heavy satellites. There was a project for a third platform, the 4000, but it has not yet been used.

Ekspress-1000 Series The Ekspress-1000 (Russian: ) in its different variations offers an platform for small to medium satellites. It is a direct to GEO bus for total spacecraft weights from to and having a power production from 3 kW to 8 kW with a life expectancy of 15 years. It is designed for directly stacking up to 3 of the smallest version (Ekspress-1000K) or 2 of the bigger ones.

Ekspress-1000K (Russian: ): The smallest platform. It is designed for spacecraft up to , with space for of payload and up to 3 kW of power generation and 1.8 kW of heat dissipation. It can be stacked up to three Ekspress-1000K. Ekspress-1000H (Russian: ): The middle platform. It is designed for spacecraft up to , with space for of payload and up to 5.6 kW of power generation and 3.5 kW of heat dissipation. It can be dual stacked with Ekspress-1000K or Ekspress-1000H. Ekspress-1000SH (Russian: ): The biggest platform. It is designed for spacecraft up to , with space for of payload and up to 8 kW of power generation and 5 kW of heat dissipation. It can be dual stacked with an Ekspress-1000K. Ekspress-1000HT (Russian: ): Evolution of the SH platform. Ekspress-1000HTA (Russian: ): Evolution of the HT platform. Ekspress-1000HTV (Russian: ): Evolution of the HTA platform.

Ekspress-2000 Series The Ekspress-2000 (Russian: ) is the fruits of the collaboration with Thales Alenia Space and their Spacebus 4000 experience with the Ekspress-1000H. It is a big platform for spacecraft massing up to , with space for of payload and up to 14 kW of power generation and 7.5 kW of heat dissipation. It is, as the rest of the family, a direct to GEO bus and given its size it is not designed to be stacked. It has an expected design life of 15 years.

Ekspress-4000 Series The Ekspress-4000 (Russian: ) is a collaboration with Thales Alenia Space to mix the best elements of the Ekspress-2000 with the Spacebus 4000. It would be a direct to GEO platform for spacecraft massing up to and having a power production of 14 kW with a life expectancy of 15 years. This would enable more than 60 transponders of payload.

It would lack any orbit raising propulsion, but would keep the electric propulsion thrusters (SPT-100) supplied by OKB Fakel for station keeping. It would also use the Russian solar panels and have versions designed for highly elliptical orbit like Molniya orbit so important for the northerner regions of Russia.

During 2009, the plan was to start with a series of satellites in HEO orbits for the Russian government, called Ekspress-RV ). It would be a constellation of three on orbit spacecraft with a fourth backup on Earth, but no further development have been communicated. Nor any of the expected foreign sales were closed.

List of satellites The Ekspress bus has seen many successes, both for the commercial market and the military programs. Here is a list of all known orders as of July 2016.

Satellite Bus Payload Order Launch Launch Vehicle Intended Orbit Launch Result Launch Weight Status RemarksKosmos 2471 (Uragan-K1 #1, 11L) Ekspress-1000K 2011-02-26 Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO First launch of third generation GLONASS.Luch 5A Ekspress-1000A 2011-12-11 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along AMOS-5.AMOS-5 Ekspress-1000H 2008 2011-12-11 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along Luch 5A.Telkom-3 Ekspress-1000H 2009 2012-08-06 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Stranded in unusable orbit.Luch 5B Ekspress-1000AM 2012-11-02 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along Yamal-300K.Yamal-300K Ekspress-1000HTA 2009 2012-11-02 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along Luch 5B.Ekspress AM5 Ekspress-2000 2009 2013-12-26 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Ekspress AT1 Ekspress-1000H 2010 2014-03-15 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along Ekspress AT2.Ekspress AT2 Ekspress-1000K 2010 2014-03-15 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along Ekspress AT1.Luch 5V Ekspress-1000A 2014-04-28 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along KazSat-3.KazSat-3 Ekspress-1000HTA 2011 2014-04-28 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Launched along Luch 5V.Luch/Olimp-K 1 Unknown 2014-09-27 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Ekspress AM6 (Eutelsat 53A) Ekspress-2000 2009 2014-10-21 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Reached its destination using its own propulsion.Kosmos 2501 (Uragan-K1 #2, 12L) Ekspress-1000K 2014-11-30 Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Yamal-401 Ekspress-2000 2010 2014-12-15 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Ekspress AM8 Ekspress-1000HTB 2010 2015-09-14 Proton-M/Blok DM-03 GEO Blagovest 1 (11L) Ekspress-2000 2011 2017-08-16 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Blagovest 2 (12L) Ekspress-2000 2018-04-18 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Blagovest 3 (13L) Ekspress-2000 2018-12-21 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Blagovest 4 (14L) Ekspress-2000 2018-09-05 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Kosmos 2569 (Uragan-K2 #1, 11L) Ekspress-1000A 2023-09-07 Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Yamal-601 Ekspress-2000 2015 2019-05-30 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #3, 13L) Ekspress-1000A Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Ekspress 80 Ekspress-1000H 2016 2020-07-30 Proton-M / Briz-M GEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #4, 14L) Ekspress-1000A Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Ekspress 103 Ekspress-1000H 2016 2020-07-30 Proton-M / Briz-M GEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #5, 15L) Ekspress-1000K Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K2 #2, 12L) Ekspress-1000A Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #6, 16L) Ekspress-1000K Proton-M/Blok DM-03 MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #7, 17L) Ekspress-1000K Proton-M/Blok DM-03 MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #8, 18L) Ekspress-1000K Proton-M/Blok DM-03 MEO Yenisey A1 (ex Luch 4) Ekspress-2000 Proton-M/Briz-M GEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #9, 19L) Ekspress-1000K Proton-M/Blok DM-03 MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #10, 20L) Ekspress-1000K Proton-M/Blok DM-03 MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #11, 21L) Ekspress-1000K Proton-M/Blok DM-03 MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K2 #3, 13L) Ekspress-1000A Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #12, 22L) Ekspress-1000K Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Kosmos 2xxx (Uragan-K1 #13, 23L) Ekspress-1000K Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M MEO Lybid 1 Ekspress-1000T 2010 Zenit-3F GEO Satellite us built and in storage. Future uncertain due to the Russo-Ukrainian war.Armenian ComSat Ekspress-1000H 2012 Zohreh 1 Ekspress-1000K 2005 Program cancelled.Zohreh 2 Ekspress-1000K 2005 Program cancelled.AOneSat 1 Ekspress-1000H 2013 2016 Satellite cancelled.

See also

ISS Reshetnev – The Ekspress bus designer and manufacturer. Russian Satellite Communications Company – The main Russian state operator of communications satellites. Ekspress Constellation – Communication satellite family operated by Russian Satellite Communications Company. Luch satellite constellation – A Russian relay satellites constellation that enable constant communications with the ISS and Soyuz-MS. GLONASS-K – Third generation of the GLONASS navigation satellite that is based on the Ekspress-1000 bus. GLONASS-K2 – Evolution of the GLONASS-K based on the Ekspress-1000A bus.

References

External links ISS Reshetnev