Failure of the Express AM11 communications satellite reportedly knocked out broadcasts to Russia's Far East region early Wednesday.
The RIA Novosti news agency reported that the spacecraft that went dark belongs to Russian satellite operator Kosmicheskaya Svyaz and has been in orbit since 2004.
The reason for the loss of contact with Express 11A at 11:40 p.m. GMT was not known Wednesday.
The satellite was built jointly by Alcatel Space and Sodren and is equipped with 30 transponders with a capacity of 2,000 watts.
A second Express satellite -- Express 2A -- continued to broadcast television signals to the region.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
