Astra 1E

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Astra 1E
Mission type Communications
Operator SES
COSPAR ID 1995-055A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 23686
Website https://www.ses.com/
Mission duration15 years (planned)
19 years, 8 months (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type Boeing 601
Bus HS-601
Manufacturer Hughes Space and Communications
Launch mass3,014 kg (6,645 lb)
Power4.7 kW
Start of mission
Launch date19 October 1995, 00:38:00 UTC
Rocket Ariane 42L H10-3 (V79)
Launch site Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-2
Contractor Arianespace
Entered serviceDecember 1995
End of mission
Disposal Graveyard orbit
DeactivatedJune 2015
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit [1]
Regime Geostationary orbit
Longitude19.2° East (1995-2007)
23.5° East (2007-2010)
5.2° East (2010-2012)
108.2° East (2012-2014)
31.5° East (2014-2015)
23° East (2015)
Transponders
Band18 Ku-band
BandwidthFSS: 26 Mhz
BSS: 33 MHz
Coverage areaEurope
←  Astra 1D
Astra 1F  →

Astra 1E is one of the Astra communications satellites in geostationary orbit owned and operated by SES. It was launched in October 1995 to the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot initially to provide digital television and radio for direct-to-home (DTH) across Europe.

Contents

Astra 1E was the first Astra satellite to be dedicated to digital television broadcasting and it carried many of the first digital television channels from networks broadcasting to France, Germany, and other European countries in the 1990s.[ citation needed ]

The satellite originally provided two broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation, for Fixed Service Satellite (FSS) (10.70-10.95 GHz) and for Broadcast Satellite Service (BSS) (11.70-12.10 GHz) frequency bands. The FSS beams provide footprints that cover essentially the same area of Europe – northern, central and eastern Europe, including Spain and northern Italy – while the BSS horizontal beam excludes Spain and extends further east, and the BSS vertical beam includes Spain and more of southern Italy but does not extend so far east. [2] Within the footprints, television signals are usually received with a 60–80 cm dish.

History

In October 2007, following the successful deployment of Astra 1L at 19.2° East, Astra 1E was moved to Astra's new DTH orbital position, 23.5° East [3] where it provided capacity for the transmission of new services including the ASTRA2Connect two-way satellite broadband Internet service which provides high speed internet access and Voice over IP (VoIP) without landline connection at up to 2  Mbit/s download speeds and 128 kbit/s upload [4] using four Ku-band transponders for both forward and return paths from the user's remote terminal. [5]

In May 2010, Astra 3B was launched to the 23.5° East position, coming into service in June 2010, at which time the services using Astra 1E were transferred to the new craft. In August 2010, Astra 1E left the 23.5° East position moving westwards, to the Astra 5°E position to provide backup for Astra 4A pending the launch of Astra 4B to that position in 2011. At 5° East, Astra 1E carried very little television traffic. [6] Following the launch of Astra 4B (renamed to SES-5) in February 2012, [7] Astra 1E was moved to 108.2° East, in inclined orbit and with no traffic, and then to 31.5° East in Summer 2013. It returned to 23° East in February 2015. [8]

in June 2015, the satellite was retired and was moved into a graveyard orbit above the geostationary belt, moving 5.4° West per day. [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Ku band is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under", because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band, which was split into three bands because of the presence of the atmospheric water vapor resonance peak at 22.24 GHz, (1.35 cm) which made the center unusable for long range transmission. In radar applications, it ranges from 12 to 18 GHz according to the formal definition of radar frequency band nomenclature in IEEE Standard 521–2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astra (satellite)</span> Geostationary communication satellites

Astra is the brand name for a number of geostationary communication 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SES (company)</span> Communications satellite owner and operator

SES S.A., trading as SES is a Luxembourgish satellite telecommunications network provider supplying video and data connectivity worldwide to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions.

Sirius was a constellation of communications satellites operated at 5.0° East in geostationary orbit (GEO) by NSAB. They carried digital satellite television to the countries of Scandinavia, Baltic states, Eastern Europe and Africa, including the Viasat pay TV system, along with several pay TV packages for Eastern Europe, the TopTV package for Africa, a number of Ukrainian channels and the national Latvian and Lithuanian channel service free-to-air.

Astra 1F is one of the Astra communications satellites in geostationary orbit owned and operated by SES. It was launched in April 1996 to the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot initially to provide digital television and radio for direct-to-home (DTH) across Europe.

Astra 2A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned by SES. Launched in 1998 into the 28.2° East orbital position, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by BSkyB, who utilised it to launch their new Sky Digital service. In March 2015, the satellite has been deactivated and relocated to 113.5° East.

Astra 2B is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES. Launched in September 2000 to join Astra 2A at the Astra 28.2°E orbital position providing digital television and radio broadcast services to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the satellite has also served at the Astra 19.2°E and the Astra 31.5°E positions.

Astra 2C is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES. Designed to join Astra 2A and Astra 2B at the Astra 28.2°E orbital position providing digital television and radio broadcast services to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the satellite was first used after launch in 2001 at 19.2° East for pan-European coverage.

Astra 3A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched in March 2002 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital position to provide digital television and radio for direct to home (DTH) and cable, multimedia and interactive services, corporate networks, and occasional and other business services to Europe.

Astra 5°E is the name for the Astra communications satellites co-located at the 5° east position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe.

Astra 23.5°E is a group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 23.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 23.5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe.

Astra 31.5°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 31.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 31.5° east is SES' newest orbital location serving Europe.

Astra 4A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES at the Astra 5°E orbital slot providing digital television and radio broadcasts, data, and interactive services to Nordic countries, eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa in the 11.70 GHz-12.75 GHz range of the Ku band and 18.8 GHz-21.75 GHz range of the Ka band.

Astra 5A was one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES at the Astra 31.5°E. Launched in 1997 to the 5° East position by NSAB as Sirius 2, operation of the satellite was transferred to SES in April 2008 and the craft renamed and moved to 31.5° East to open up a new orbital position for the company for the development of markets in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astra 19.2°E</span> Group of communications satellites

Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg.

Astra 3B is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched in 2010 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital position providing digital television and radio for direct-to-home (DTH), and the AstraConnect two-way satellite broadband services across Europe and the Middle East.

Astra 2F is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched in September 2012 to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position. The satellite provides free-to-air and encrypted direct-to-home (DTH) digital television and satellite broadband services for Europe and Africa.

SES-5 is a commercial geostationary communication satellite operated by SES It was launched on 9 July 2012. The launch was arranged by International Launch Services (ILS).

Astra 2E is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position on 30 September 2013 after a 10-week delay caused by launcher problems. The satellite provides free-to-air and encrypted direct-to-home (DTH) digital television and satellite broadband services for Europe and the Middle East.

Astra 5B is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES. It was launched as SES' 56th satellite in March 2014, to the newest of the Astra orbital positions for direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television, at 31.5° East for DTH, DTT and cable use in Eastern Europe,.

References

  1. ↑ "ASTRA 1E". N2YO.com. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Astra 1E". SES ASTRA. Archived from the original on 23 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "23.5° East is a new orbital slot for Direct to Home and ASTRA2Connect / ASTRA 1E replaces ASTRA 1D" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  4. ↑ SES ASTRA "ASTRA2Connect Broadband and VoIP" (August 2008) SES Fact Sheet
  5. ↑ "Astra 1E at 23.5° E". LyngSat. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  6. ↑ "Astra 1E at 4.6° E". LyngSat. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "SES-4 Satellite Now Operational" (Press release). SES ASTRA. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  8. ↑ Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed February 27, 2015
  9. ↑ Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions Accessed June 29, 2015
  10. ↑ "Astra 1E, 1F". Gunter's Space Page. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
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