In the early 1960s, the USSR has a telecommunications network through the Molniya satellites. This network covers only 20% of the Soviet territory and 80% of the population. The remaining 20% of people are scattered over huge territories, especially in the Far East and the Far North. To fill this gap, it was decided to use geostationary satellites, which would allow data to be sent directly to Soviet homes. These transmissions directly to the user (Direct-broadcast satellite) are a world first.

The first Ekran satellite was put into orbit on 26 October 1976. A second Ekran was launched, but the next three satellites were lost due to repeated failures of Proton. The two satellites already in orbit gradually drifted from their position, and the television service stopped working. Two successful launches in 1979 allow to restore the transmissions. In 1987, an improved version Ekran-M is inaugurated, with a greater transmission capacity, and a longer life span.

In 1991, the Ekran program suffers from the break-up of the USSR. Each of the former republics became the owner of everything on its territory in August 1991. The satellite Ekran-M n°16, delivered to Baikonur in December 1990, becomes the property of Kazakhstan. Russia doesn't have the right to launch it, and Kazakhstan doesn't have a launcher capable of sending it into orbit. The next satellite n°17 is delivered to Baikonur in December 1991, and thus remains the property of Russia. It was never launched.

On March 15, 2001, the satellite n°15, the last in orbit, broke down definitively. About 20 million Russians were left without television. The broadcasts are partially retransmitted by the satellite Ekspress-6A, but the complete resumption of the service depends on Ekran-M n°18, which is finally launched into orbit on April 7, 2001 by the first Proton-M launcher. The services then resume normally, and last until February 9, 2009, when the n°18 stops transmitting. The Ekran program is then stopped.