Astra 4A
Encyclopedia
Astra 4A is one of the Astracommunications satellite
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
.
The satellite was launched in November 2007 as Sirius 4 by SES Sirius. At that time, SES owned a 75% shareholding in SES Sirius, which was increased to 90% in 2008 and to 100% in March 2010. In June 2010, the affiliate company was renamed SES Astra (then a subsidiary company of SES) and the Sirius 4 satellite renamed Astra 4A.
Astra 4A provides three Ku band broadcast beams - the Nordic beam to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, the European beam to Eastern European and Baltic countries including Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine, and the African beam to sub-Saharan Africa - and one .
Reception is possible on dishes as small as 60 cm from all three beams, with reception from the European beam across Europe and from the African beam across sub-Saharan across Africa with dishes of 90 cm-120 cm..
The satellite also carries a dedicated payload of two transponders for Ka band services, for applications such as interactive and contribution services. Both uplink and downlink within the African footprint is available, and also inter-connectivity between Africa and Europe so broadcasting out of Europe is available without the need for expensive fibre ground links.
The Astra 4A designation was originally given in June 2005 to 33 transponders of the NSS-10 craft (formerly AMC-12) owned by another subsidiary of SES, SES New Skies
, and positioned at 37.5° west for broadcast, data, and telecommunications into Africa.. On this spacecraft, the Astra 4A designation originally applied only to the FSS Africa beam that provides six 36 MHz transponders for sub-Saharan Africa.
Five of these African beam transponders are contracted with ETV and Globecast having signed one transponder each and three transponders signed by On Digital Media for the South African TopTV
network.
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
owned and operated by SES at the 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 based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
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
Ku band
The Kμ band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to —in other words, the band directly below the K-band...
and 18.8 GHz-21.75 GHz range of the Ka band
Ka band
The Ka band covers the frequencies of 26.5–40 GHz. The Ka band is part of the K band of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. This symbol refers to "K-above" — in other words, the band directly above the K-band...
.
The satellite was launched in November 2007 as Sirius 4 by SES Sirius. At that time, SES owned a 75% shareholding in SES Sirius, which was increased to 90% in 2008 and to 100% in March 2010. In June 2010, the affiliate company was renamed SES Astra (then a subsidiary company of SES) and the Sirius 4 satellite renamed Astra 4A.
Astra 4A provides three Ku band broadcast beams - the Nordic beam to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, the European beam to Eastern European and Baltic countries including Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine, and the African beam to sub-Saharan Africa - and one .
Reception is possible on dishes as small as 60 cm from all three beams, with reception from the European beam across Europe and from the African beam across sub-Saharan across Africa with dishes of 90 cm-120 cm..
The satellite also carries a dedicated payload of two transponders for Ka band services, for applications such as interactive and contribution services. Both uplink and downlink within the African footprint is available, and also inter-connectivity between Africa and Europe so broadcasting out of Europe is available without the need for expensive fibre ground links.
The Astra 4A designation was originally given in June 2005 to 33 transponders of the NSS-10 craft (formerly AMC-12) owned by another subsidiary of SES, SES New Skies
SES NEW SKIES
SES World Skies—formerly SES New Skies, New Skies Satellites , and SES Americom—is a Dutch operator of communications spacecraft, owned by SES.On 30 November 1998, several former Intelsat satellites were transferred to New Skies’ control...
, and positioned at 37.5° west for broadcast, data, and telecommunications into Africa.. On this spacecraft, the Astra 4A designation originally applied only to the FSS Africa beam that provides six 36 MHz transponders for sub-Saharan Africa.
Five of these African beam transponders are contracted with ETV and Globecast having signed one transponder each and three transponders signed by On Digital Media for the South African TopTV
TopTV
TopTV is a South African satellite TV service that began broadcasting on 1 May 2010. TopTV is owned by On Digital Media, who were granted a pay-TV license by ICASA in September 2007. On Digital Media is 20% owned by TV satellite operator, SES Astra...
network.
See also
- Sirius 3SIRIUS (satellite)Sirius was a constellation of communications satellites operated at 5°E in geostationary orbit by SES Sirius . 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...
co-located satellite - Astra 5°EAstra 5°EAstra 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 based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
orbital position - SES satellite owner
- TopTVTopTVTopTV is a South African satellite TV service that began broadcasting on 1 May 2010. TopTV is owned by On Digital Media, who were granted a pay-TV license by ICASA in September 2007. On Digital Media is 20% owned by TV satellite operator, SES Astra...
broadcaster
External links
- SES guide to receiving Astra satellites
- SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites
- OnAstra - Official consumers/viewers' site
- SES - Official trade/industry site
- Astra 4A Nordic beam footprint on SatBeams
- Astra 4A European beam footprint on SatBeams
- Astra 4A Africa beam footprint on SatBeams