The Gals television broadcasting satellite, originally expected to be launched by December, 1990, was designed to support a variety of direct broadcast customers, including professional broadcasting firms (having antenna 2.5 m in diameter), community associations (receiving antenna 1.5 m), and individuals (receiving antenna 0.6-0.9 m). The year 1994 marked the long awaited debut of the first of the next-generation Russian geosynchronous communications satellites.

The spacecraft, designed and built by the Applied Mechanics NPO, utilized a new, modernized MSS-2500 class bus with greater electrical power, higher precision station-keeping capabilities (including north-south station-keeping), and longer life. The first of these spacecraft to appear was Gals 1 on 20 January 1994, followed by Express 1 on 13 October. Both employed the MSS-2500-GSO-01 spacecraft bus. Two other models (MSS-2500-GSO-02 and MSS-2500-GSO) were still under development. Gals 1 further tested the Russian SPT-100 ion thruster created by the Fakel Bureau. This evaluation program was conducted in conjunction with France's SEP firm and U.S.'s Loral Space Systems Company. Two solar arrays with a total power of 2.4 kW supported three Ku-band transponders (one 40 W and two 80 W). The spacecraft bus measured 4.1 m by 6.6 m with a 21-m span across the solar arrays. The design lifetime was 5-7 years.

Gals 1 also signaled the first civilian control of a major applications spacecraft. The new Main Control Center at Krasnoyarsk in Siberia of the Applied Mechanics NPO), rather than the military satellite control facility at Golitsino-2, was in charge of Gals' day-to-day operations.