It is the 11th Meridian satellite to fly. It is named 21L, because ISS Rechetnyov (the manufacturer) numbering system starts from 11. The letter L is added to indicate that it is a flight unit (лётный in Russian).

Meridians are new generation telecommunications satellites intended to ensure communications with ships and planes operating in the Arctic Ocean, as well as with stations based in the Far East and Siberia.

These satellites are dual-purpose: they are primarily used for military telecommunications but will also be used for civil applications.

They will gradually replace three types of satellites: the Molniya-1T (11F658T), Molniya-3 (11F637) and Parouss (11F627). Compared to these previous generation satellites, the Meridians have a longer lifespan (seven years instead of one or two), higher power (3kW instead of 1kW) and carry a larger payload (three transponders instead of one).

Like their Molniya predecessors, they are deployed in very elliptical orbits, on the order of 900km x 39000km x 65 °, which is called the Molniya Orbit. Their platform is pressurized and stabilized along three axes. A certain number of equipment would be derived from that developed for the GLONASS-M navigation satellites.