SES Astra

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SES Astra

SES Astra SA, is a corporate

Corporation

A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. It is a legal entity owned by individual stockholders. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate ....
subsidiary

Subsidiary

A subsidiary, in business matters, is an entity that is controlled by a bigger and more powerful entity. The controlled entity is called a company , corporation, or limited liability company, and the controlling entity is called its parent ....
of SES, based in Betzdorf

Betzdorf, Luxembourg

Betzdorf is a Communes of Luxembourg and village in eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Grevenmacher , which is part of the district of Grevenmacher ....
, in eastern Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
, that owns and operates the Astra series of geostationary

Geostationary orbit

Transmission (telecommunications)

In telecommunications, transmission is the process of sending, propagating and receiving an analogue or digital information signal over a physical point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission medium, either wired or wireless....
approximately 2300 analogue

Analog television

Analog television encodes television picture and sound information and transmits it as an analog signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast Signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal....
and digital

Digital

A digital system uses discrete values, usually but not always symbolized numerically to represent information for input, processing, transmission, storage, etc....
television

Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
and radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
channels

Channel (communications)

Channel, in communications , refers to the :wikt:medium used to information transfer information from a sender to a receiver ....
via 242 transponder

Transponder

In telecommunication, the term transponder has the following meanings:* An automatic information appliance that receiver , amplifier, and Transmission a Signalling on a different frequency ....
s to 109 million household

Household

The household is "the basic residential unit in which production , consumption , inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonomous with family"....
s across Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.

Formed in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), it was Europe's first private satellite operator. Its slogan

Slogan

A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commerce, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose....
is currently "Your Satellite Connection to the World".

The first customer of SES Astra was Sky Television

Sky Television plc

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Satellite details

SES Astra operates 15 satellites from five orbital locations - Astra 19.2°E

Astra 19.2°E

Astra 19.2?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 19.2?East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
, Astra 28.2°E

Astra 28.2°E

Astra 28.2?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 28.2? East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
, Astra 23.5°E

Astra 23.5°E

Astra 23.5?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 23.5? east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
, Astra 5°E

Astra 5°E

Astra 5?E is the name for the communications satellites co-located at the 5? East position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
, Astra 31.5°E

Astra 31.5°E

Astra 31.5?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 31.5? East position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
. Astra's principle of "co-location" (several satellites are close to each other, all within a cube with a size of 150 km); this increases flexibility and redundancy.

Satellite	Launch Date	Manufacturer	Model	Launch vehicle	Comments
ASTRA 19.2°E Astra 19.2°E Astra 19.2?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 19.2?East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
1F	April 8 1996	Hughes	HS-601	Proton-K
1H	June 16 1999	Hughes	HS-601HP	Proton
1KR Astra 1KR Astra 1KR is a geostationary satellite owned by SES Astra. It was launched in April 2006 as a replacement for Astra 1K, which failed to reach orbit on launch in 2002....	20 April 2006	Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....	A2100 A2100 The A2100 is a communications satellite spacecraft made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for telecommunications in geosynchronous orbit.The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed for a variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku...	Atlas V Atlas V The Atlas V rocket is an expendable launch vehicle formerly built by Lockheed Martin and now built by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance.... (411)	Launched after the failure of Astra 1K.
1L	May 4, 2007	Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....	A2100 A2100 The A2100 is a communications satellite spacecraft made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for telecommunications in geosynchronous orbit.The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed for a variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku...	Ariane 5 Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European expendable launch system designed to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit.It is manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales , with EADS Astrium Space Transportation as prime contractor, leading a consortium of sub-contracto... -ECA	Replacement for 1E/2C; Ku Ku band The Ku band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to "K-under" ?in other words, the band directly below the K-band.... and Ka Ka band The Ka band covers the frequencies of 26.5-40GHz. The Ka band is part of the K band of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum.... bands
1M	Nov 6, 2008	EADS Astrium EADS Astrium EADS Astrium Satellites, one of the three business units of EADS Astrium, this company being a subsidiary of EADS, is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground systems....	Eurostar E3000	Proton-M	To replace 1G and provide backup at 19.2° East. Ready for commercial service 20 January 2009
ASTRA 28.2°E Astra 28.2°E Astra 28.2?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 28.2? East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
2A Astra 2A Astra 2A is a communications satellite owned by SES Astra. Launched in 1998, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by BSkyB, who utilised it and a re-positioned Astra 1D to launch their new Sky Digital service....	August 30 1998	Hughes	HS-601HP	Proton
2B Astra 2B Astra 2B is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, launched in 2000 to join Astra 2A at the Astra 28.2?E orbital slot providing digital television and radio broadcast services to the UK and Republic of Ireland....	September 14 2000	Astrium EADS Astrium EADS Astrium Satellites, one of the three business units of EADS Astrium, this company being a subsidiary of EADS, is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground systems....	Eurostar E2000+	Ariane 5 Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European expendable launch system designed to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit.It is manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales , with EADS Astrium Space Transportation as prime contractor, leading a consortium of sub-contracto... G
2C Astra 2C Astra 2C is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra. Designed to join Astra 2A and Astra 2B at the Astra 28.2?E orbital slot providing digital television and radio broadcast services to the UK and Republic of Ireland, the satellite was first used at 19.2?E for pan-European coverage....	June 16 2001	Hughes	HS-601HP	Proton	Initially deployed at 19.2° East pending launch of 1L, then moved to originally intended position of 28.2° East, with 2A, 2B and 2D
2D Astra 2D Astra 2D is one of a group of satellites operated by SES Astra, located at 28.2? East in the Clarke Belt. It is a Boeing Satellite Systems HS-376 craft, and was launched from the Guiana Space Centre in December 2000....	December 19 2000	Hughes	HS-376HP	Ariane 5 Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European expendable launch system designed to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit.It is manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales , with EADS Astrium Space Transportation as prime contractor, leading a consortium of sub-contracto... G
ASTRA 23.5°E Astra 23.5°E Astra 23.5?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 23.5? east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
3A Astra 3A Astra 3A is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, launched in 2002 to the Astra 23.5?E orbital slot providing digital television and radio for DTH and cable, multimedia and interactive services, corporate networks, and occasional and other business services to central Europe....	March 29 2002	Boeing	HS-376HP	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 4L
1E Astra 1E Astra 1E is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, and launched in 1995 to the Astra 19.2?E orbital slot to provide digital television and radio for Direct to Home across Europe....	October 19 1995	Hughes	HS-601	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 2L	Moved from 19.2° East to 23.5° East to provide additional capacity alongside Astra 4A for central and eastern Europe.
1G	December 2 1997	Hughes	HS-601HP	Proton-K	Power problems, now max 20 transponders. Moved from 19.2° east February 2009 following launch of Astra 1M
ASTRA 5°E Astra 5°E Astra 5?E is the name for the communications satellites co-located at the 5? East position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
4A Astra 4A Astra 4A is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, launched in 2007 to the Astra 5?E orbital slot providing digital television and radio broadcasts, data, and interactive services to sub-Saharan Africa....	November 18 2007	Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....	A2100AX	Proton-M	Leased transponders of Sirius 4 SIRIUS (satellite) Sirius is a constellation of communications satellites operated in geostationary orbit by SES Sirius. They carry digital television satellite television to the countries of Scandinavia and Baltic states, including the Viasat pay TV system, along with several pay TV packages for eastern Europe.... , marketed as Astra 4A
1C Astra 1C Astra 1C was the third communications satellite launched by the Soci?t? Europ?enne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It is the oldest Astra satellite still in operation, although it currently carries no services....	May 12 1993	Hughes	HS-601	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 2L	Moved from 19.2° East to 5° East to provide occasional capacity alongside Astra 4A. In inclined orbit Inclined orbit A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around the Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than zero degrees with the equatorial plane....
ASTRA 31.5°E Astra 31.5°E Astra 31.5?E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 31.5? East position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES S.A....
1D Astra 1D Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last communications satellite from Soci?t? Europ?enne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It was launched to Astra's original solitary operational position at Astra 19.2?E, and was intended as an in-orbit spare for Astra's Astra 1A, Astra 1B and Astra 1C....	November 1 1994	Hughes	HS-601	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 2P	Originally at 19.2° East; used at 28.2° East and 23.5° East. Moved to 31.5° East to provide occasional capacity alongside Astra 5A (now failed) for central and eastern Europe and Russia. In inclined orbit Inclined orbit A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around the Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than zero degrees with the equatorial plane....
NO LONGER IN OPERATION
1A Astra 1A Astra 1A was the first communications satellite launched and operated by Soci?t? Europ?enne des Satellites , now SES Astra. During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally....	December 11 1988	GE AstroSpace	GE-4000	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 4LP	The first Astra satellite. Now retired in graveyard orbit Graveyard orbit A graveyard orbit, also called a supersynchronous orbit, junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit significantly above synchronous orbit where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life.... .
1B Astra 1B Astra 1B was the second communications satellite launched and operated by Soci?t? Europ?enne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It was bought during its construction from GE Americom, and was launched to add extra capacity to the satellite television services from Astra 19.2?, serving Germany, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland....	March 2 1991	GE AstroSpace	GE-5000	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 4LP	Acquired from GE Americom (Satcom K3 Satcom (satellite) The Satcom series was a family of communications satellites originally developed and operated by RCA American Communications . Satcom was one of the early geostationary satellites; the first were the Syncom series, in 1964.... ). Now retired in graveyard orbit Graveyard orbit A graveyard orbit, also called a supersynchronous orbit, junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit significantly above synchronous orbit where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life.... .
1K Astra 1K Astra 1K was a communications satellite manufactured by Alcatel Space for SES Astra. When it was launched on November 25, 2002 it was the largest civilian communications satellite ever launched, weighing ....	November 26 2002	Alcatel Space	Spacebus Spacebus Spacebus is the name given to a family of geostationary telecommunications satellites developed starting in the 1980s by Aerospatiale, now Thales Alenia Space, in its Cannes Mandelieu Space Center.... 3000B3S	Proton	Launched to 19.2° East but failed to reach geostationary orbit, and intentionally de-orbited on December 10, 2002.
5A Astra 5A Astra 5A is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra at the Astra 31.5?E orbital slot. Launched in 1997 to the Astra 5?E position by NSAB as Sirius 2, operation of the satellite was transferred to SES Astra in April 2008 and the craft renamed and moved to 31.5?E to open up a new orbital position for the company for the deve...	November 12 1997	Alcatel Space	Spacebus Spacebus Spacebus is the name given to a family of geostationary telecommunications satellites developed starting in the 1980s by Aerospatiale, now Thales Alenia Space, in its Cannes Mandelieu Space Center.... -3000B2	Ariane 4 Ariane 4 Ariane 4 was an expendable launch system, designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales and manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary Arianespace.... 4L	Formerly known as Sirius 2. Moved to 31.5° East and renamed Astra 5A on April 29, 2008. Failed in-orbit January 16, 2009
NOW IN CONSTRUCTION
3B	Due end 2009	EADS Astrium EADS Astrium EADS Astrium Satellites, one of the three business units of EADS Astrium, this company being a subsidiary of EADS, is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground systems....	Eurostar E3000	Ariane 5 Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European expendable launch system designed to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit.It is manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales , with EADS Astrium Space Transportation as prime contractor, leading a consortium of sub-contracto... -ECA	To replace all capacity at 23.5° East. 52 transponders in Ku band Ku band The Ku band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to "K-under" ?in other words, the band directly below the K-band.... and 4 in Ka band Ka band The Ka band covers the frequencies of 26.5-40GHz. The Ka band is part of the K band of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum....
1N	Due 2011	EADS Astrium EADS Astrium EADS Astrium Satellites, one of the three business units of EADS Astrium, this company being a subsidiary of EADS, is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground systems....	Eurostar E3000		To replace 1H and provide backup at 19.2° East

Notes

19.2° East is the most common orbital position for direct-to-home satellite TV and radio transmission in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, Western and Central Europe.
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting

British Sky Broadcasting is a company that operates Sky Digital , a subscription television service in the UK and Republic of Ireland. It produces TV content, and owns several TV channels....
broadcast their Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)

Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and satellite radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at Astra 28.2?E and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5?E....
direct-to-home television service to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
and Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
from the 28.2° East satellite constellation. Eutelsat
Eutelsat

Eutelsat S.A. is a France-based telecommunications satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues....
's Eurobird 1 satellite also operates close to this position.

Satellite manufacturer and launch

SES Astra operates satellites designed by Boeing Satellite Systems or BSS (formerly Hughes Space and Communications), EADS Astrium

EADS Astrium

EADS Astrium Satellites, one of the three business units of EADS Astrium, this company being a subsidiary of EADS, is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground systems....
, Alcatel Space, and Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....
.

Astra satellites within a family are not identical, for example of the Astra 2 satellites; 2A and 2C are BSS 601HPs, 2B is an Astrium Eurostar-2000 and 2D is a BSS 376.

The satellites are launched by Arianespace

Arianespace

Arianespace SA is a France company and was founded in 1980. They undertake the production, operation and marketing of the Ariane 5 rocket launcher as part of the Ariane programme....
rockets

Ariane (rocket)

Ariane is a series of a European civilian expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. The name comes from the French language spelling of the mythological character Ariadne; the word is also used in French to describe some types of hummingbird....
from Kourou

Kourou

Kourou is a town and commune in France in French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department of France located in South America.Kourou is the location of the Guiana Space Centre, France and ESA's main spaceport....
, French Guiana

French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
or International Launch Services

International Launch Services

International Launch Services is a U.S.-Russian joint venture with exclusive rights to the worldwide sale of commercial Proton launch services from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan....
Proton rocket

Proton rocket

The Proton rocket is a rocket used in an expendable launch system for both commercial and Russian government launches. The first Proton was launched in 1965 and the launch system is still in use as of 2009, which makes it one of the most successful heavy boosters in the history of spaceflight....
s from Baikonur

Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tjuratam, is the world's first and largest operational Spaceport. It is located in the desert steppes of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station....
, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
. The satellites are launched into an elliptical "temporary transfer orbit" from where they use onboard propulsion to reach their final circular geostationary orbit

Geostationary orbit

A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero....
s, at nearly 36,000 km altitude. Proton rockets fitted with a fourth stage propulsion unit are capable of launching the satellites several thousand kilometres higher (at the closest point of the elliptical orbit) than Ariane rockets. As a result most satellites launched in this way have to use less fuel to reach their geostationary orbit, increasing their lifetime.

Failures

Astra 1K

Astra 1K was a communications satellite manufactured by Alcatel Space for SES Astra. When it was launched on November 25, 2002 it was the largest civilian communications satellite ever launched, weighing ....
, the largest commercial communications satellite ever built at the time, was ordered by SES-Astra in 1997. It was launched by Proton rocket on November 26 2002. The rocket lifted off as planned and reached its parking orbit

Parking orbit

A parking orbit is a temporary orbit used during the launch of a satellite or other space probe. A launch vehicle boosts into the parking orbit, then coasts for a while, then fires again to enter the final desired trajectory....
at which point the final stage of the rocket 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

Space Shuttle

NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System , is the spacecraft currently used by the United States government for its human spaceflight missions....
, however this was rejected. On December 10 2002 SES Astra instructed Alcatel Space (the manufacturer) and the French Space Agency CNES

CNES

The is the France government space agency . Its headquarters are located in central Paris. It operates out of the Centre Spatial Guyanais, but also has payloads launched from other space centres operated by other countries....
to deorbit the satellite, it broke up on re-entry over the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
.

On January 16, 2009 Astra 5A "experienced a technical anomaly leading to the end of the spacecraft’s mission" 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

Kabel Deutschland

Kabel Deutschland is the largest cable company in Germany....
) was transferred to Astra 23.5°E

Astra 23.5°E

Swedish Space Corporation

The Swedish Space Corporation , or Rymdbolaget, is a Sweden government owned company that was established in 1972 to develop and implement space projects primarily on behalf of the Swedish National Space Board and European Space Agency....
(technical operators of the craft) and SES Astra are investigating the failure and working to de-orbit the satellite. Future deployment of satellite(s) to the Astra 31.5°E position is yet to be decided.

External links

- Official site
footprints
Footprint (satellite)

The footprint of a communications satellite is the ground area that its transponders offer coverage , and determines the satellite dish diameter required to receive each transponder's signal....
(To determine size requirements of a satellite dish
Satellite dish

A satellite dish is a type of parabolic antenna that receives or transmits electromagnetic signals to and from another location typically a satellite....
- minimum diameter from 50 to 120 cm
Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
)
.
- Official site

SES Astra

Satellite details

Satellite manufacturer and launch

Failures

See also

External links