MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's new Express-AM33 telecommunications satellite that was orbited in late January has started operations, the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) said on Tuesday.

The satellite, designed by the Reshetnev Applied Mechanics Science and Production Association to provide TV and satellite communications all over Russia, was launched on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

It is the first satellite to have been manufactured for the RSCC under the Russian Federal Space Program for 2006-2015. As well as Russia, the satellite covers parts of Central Asia, Mongolia, and China.

The Express-AM33 service life is 12 years. It has adjustable antennas and can change the coverage area if necessary. The on-the-ground receivers to be used with the satellite are reportedly cheaper, as they need no automatic tracking devices.

The RSCC, founded in 1967, is a top-ten world satellite communications provider with the largest number of satellites in Russia and full coverage of the Russian Federation, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific Region, North and Latin America, and Australia.

The company provides presidential and governmental satellite communications and broadcasts federal TV channels in Russia and abroad.