Astra is the brand name for a number of geostationarycommunication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES, a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is also used to describe the pan-European broadcasting system provided by these satellites, the channels carried on them, and even the reception equipment.
At the time of the launch of the first Astra satellite, Astra 1A in 1988, the satellite's operator was known as Société Européenne des Satellites ("European Satellite Company"). In 2001 SES Astra, a newly formed subsidiary of SES, operated the Astra satellites and in September 2011, SES Astra was consolidated back into the parent company, which by this time also operated other satellite families such as AMC, and NSS.[1][2]
A book, High Above, telling the story of the creation and development of the Astra satellites and their contribution to developments in the European TV and media industry, was published in April 2010 to mark the 25th anniversary of SES.
Satellites
There are 11 fully-operational Astra satellites and another 2 as backup/reserve, the majority in four orbital locations - Astra 19.2°E, Astra 28.2°E, Astra 23.5°E, Astra 5°E. Astra's principle of "co-location" (several satellites are maintained close to each other, all within a cube with a size of 150 km (93 mi).[4]) increases flexibility and redundancy.
In 2000, SES (then SES Astra) bought the 50% shareholding in NSAB owned by Teracom and Tele Danmark and in 2003 increased that holding to 75%, renaming the company SES Sirius AB. In 2008, Astra acquired further shares to take its shareholding in SES Sirius to 90% and in March 2010 took full control of the company.[80] In June 2010, the affiliate company was renamed SES Astra and the Sirius 4 satellite renamed Astra 4A.[81]
The Astra 4A designation was originally given in 2005 to part of the NSS-10 craft (33 transponders) owned by another subsidiary of SES, SES New Skies, and positioned at 37.5°W for broadcast, data, and telecommunications into Africa,[82] and in 2007 to part of the Sirius 4 satellite (six transponders of the FSS Africa beam) owned and operated by SES Sirius. From June 2010, the Astra 4A designation has applied to the entire satellite previously known as Sirius 4.
Failures
Astra 1K, the largest commercial communications satellite ever built at the time, was ordered by SES in 1997. It was launched by Proton rocket on 26 November 2002. The launch vehicle lifted off as planned and reached its parking orbit at which point the final stage of the launch vehicle was to initiate a second burn to transfer the satellite to its geostationary orbit. This did not occur and the satellite was released into the parking orbit, making it unusable. The only way to recover the satellite would have been the use of a Space Shuttle, however this was rejected. On 10 December 2002, SES instructed Alcatel Space (the manufacturer) and the French Space Agency CNES to deorbit the satellite, it broke up on re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.
On 16 January 2009, Astra 5A at Astra 31.5°E "experienced a technical anomaly leading to the end of the spacecraft's mission",[83] some four years ahead of the spacecraft's expected end of life. Traffic carried by the satellite (especially channels for German cable service, Kabel Deutschland) was transferred to Astra 23.5°E. In March 2009, SES (then SES Astra) announced that in April, the Astra 2C satellite was to be moved from the Astra 28.2°E position to 31.5°E to temporarily take over Astra 5A's mission until Astra 3B is launched to Astra 23.5°E, when another craft currently there can be released to 31.5°E.[84] The move of Astra 2C was started in May 2009 and completed on 11 May 2009,[85] with the first transponders coming into use at the new position in the subsequent two weeks.
Broadcasting statistics
At the end of 2021, Astra satellite broadcasts were received in 170 million households in Europe.[86] In Germany, the largest market for Astra broadcasts, 17 million households receive TV via satellite (15.93 million receiving satellite channels in HD) out of 37.22 million TV households (33.76 million HD TV households) in the country with take-up of other TV delivery methods as follows:[87]
^"New logo and brand identity presented at IBC in Amsterdam" (Press release). SES. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011.
^SES Operates Under New Management Structure Space Daily. May 3, 2011. Accessed July 27, 2017
^Veronica Magan SES TV Channels Grow by 11.3% in 2015 Satellite Today January 13, 2016. Accessed December 1, 2016
^Bains, Geoff "The Failsafe Family" What Satellite & Digital TV April, 2012, p. 29
^19.2°E ses.com. Accessed 30 May 2023
^"New ASTRA 1M Satellite Ready For Operation" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^"New SES Satellite ASTRA 1N Operational" (Press release). SES. 24 October 2011.
^28.2°E ses.com. Accessed 30 May 2023
^"ASTRA 2E successfully launched" (Press release). SES. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
^"SES' ASTRA 2E SATELLITE STARTS OPERATIONS" (Press release). SES. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^"SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE" (Press release). SES. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
^ a b c"SES Orders Four New Satellites From ASTRIUM" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^ASTRA 2F arrives at the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou August 23, 2012 SES blog. Accessed August 26, 2012
^"SES' ASTRA 2F SATELLITE STARTS OPERATIONS" (Press release). SES. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
^"ASTRA 2G SATELLITE ROARS INTO ORBIT" (Press release). SES. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
^http://www.satellite-calculations.com/ accessed June 28, 2015
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^"ASTRA 3B SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^ a b"SES: ASTRA 5B SATELLITE GOES LIVE AT 31.5° EAST" (Press release). SES. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
^ASTRA 5B N2YO.com. Accessed 26 September 2023
^SES Fleet Map SES. Accessed 25 December 2023
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^Astra 1E in SES fleet information Archived 2014-02-13 at the Wayback Machine Accessed November 29, 2013
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^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed March 27, 2015
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^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed 29 June 26 2023
^Astra 1H in SES website Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 30, 2013
^"SES AND SSI-MONACO SIGN MONACOSAT COLLABORATION AGREEMENT". SES. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions - Astra 1H Accessed February 27, 2014
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^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed August 28, 2017
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^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed June 26, 2021
^Astra 2C at 60.5°E Lyngsat Accessed September 27, 2015
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^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed 25 June 2024
^Astra 2D in SES fleet information Archived 2014-02-13 at the Wayback Machine Accessed July 26, 2013
^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed July 22, 2015
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^The end of an era: Commercial spinning spacecraft retires Boeing. 26 January 2023. Accessed 26 February 2023
^Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed 26 February 2023
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^"SES ASTRA TAKES FULL OWNERSHIP OF SES SIRIUS" (Press release). SES Astra. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^"SES SIRIUS BECOMES SES ASTRA" (Press release). SES Astra. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^"SES Global Africa completes first successful year in African business" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^"SES ASTRA Announces End Of ASTRA 5A Spacecraft Mission" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^"SES To Move ASTRA 2C Satellite To 31.5° East To Support Development Of New Orbital Position" (Press release). SES Astra. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^Astra 2C arrived at 31.5 East LyngSat. Retrieved June 1, 2009
^"Satellite Monitor Annual Research Shows SES Increase Reach to 366 Million TV Homes Worldwide" (Press release). SES. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
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External links
SES fleet information and map
Official SES site
SES first maritime Ka-band service
Lyngsat frequency/channel list
Astra 1M Ku-band Wide Beam footprint(s) at SatBeams
Astra 1M Ku-band Europe Beam footprint(s) at SatBeams
Astra 1L Ku-band FSS Beam footprint(s) at SatBeams
Astra 1KR Ku-band Europe Beam footprint(s) at SatBeams
Astra analogue satellite Promo Video clips - Orbitalzone.Com