Unlike traditional communications satellites, which spend 24 hours for one rotation around the Earth and seem to "hang" over the same point above the Equator, Molniya spacecraft are delivered into orbits where they make one rotation around the Earth in about 12 hours. On its way around the planet, the Molniya climbs as high as 40,000 kilometers in the apogee (the highest point) over the Northern Hemisphere, descending as low as 470 kilometers in the perigee (the lowest point) over the Southern Hemisphere. As a result, the spacecraft slowly drifts over the Russian territory, disappearing from the view of the ground control stations only for a short period of time.

In order to provide uninterrupted communications over the Russian territory several Molniya satellites have to work in tandem. A previous launch of the Molniya spacecraft took place on July 20, 2001. The satellites can be used to transmit television and radio signals for both civilian and military users; however, the newest birds are expected to serve the military.

At present the Reshetnev Center in the Siberian town of Zheleznogorsk builds the Molnia satellites. However, the system was originally developed in the 1960s at Sergei Korolev's OKB-1 design bureau, known today as RSC Energia.