It was constructed by Space Systems Loral and was based on the LS-1300 satellite bus.

The launch was contracted by International Launch Services, and used a Proton-K/DM3 carrier rocket flying from Site 81/23 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

It was operating in a tundra orbit, from where it provided satellite radio communications services to North America.

It had an expected operational lifetime of 15 years.

In 2016, the satellite was moved into a disposal orbit and decommissioned.