26098 - EXPRESS-A2

Express 2A is a Russian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched from Baikonur by a Proton-K rocket at 04:07 UT. (USSPACECOM had tentatively named it Express 6A.) The 2,600 kg 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 degrees E, supplementing the existing fleet of seven Gorizonts, two Expresses and an EKRAN-M. Expresses are scheduled to replace the aging Gorizont fleet.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2000-03-12
Launch Vehicle: Proton-K
Launch Site: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), Kazakhstan
Mass: 2600.0 kg