It belongs to the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) based in Moscow, Russia.

To provide of communications services (digital television, telephony, videoconferencing, data transmission, the Internet access, presidential and governmental mobile communications) and to deploy satellite networks by applying Very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) technology to Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and the Middle East.

The communications payload was built by the French company Thales Alenia Space.

The launch took place at 00:18:00 UTC on 28 January 2008, from Site 200/39 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

[2] The Ekspress-103 satellite entered in service at orbital position 96.5° East on 25 March 2021, where it replaced Ekspress-AM33.