Astra 5A
Encyclopedia
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 5°E
position by NSAB (later, SES Sirius
) 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 development of markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Astra 5A is co-located with Astra 1D
, moved in November 2007 from the Astra 23.5°E
orbital position.
The Astra 5A satellite provides two broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation, across two footprint
s, called the CEE (Central and Eastern European) beam and the PE (pan-European) beam. The CEE beam provides reception on a 60 cm dish from Poland to northern Turkey, and the Balkans to the Black Sea, while the PE beam extends 60 cm coverage from Tunisia to the Urals and from the Baltic states to Israel.
Countries covered include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Jordan, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
) transferred to Astra 23.5°E
.
Transfer of services to Astra 1D
was not practical because this satellite, although effectively co-located with Astra 5A, is in an inclined orbit
and usable only for TV contribution services and other intermittent use.
In March 2009, SES Astra announced that in April, the Astra 2C
satellite was to be moved from the 28.2° east
position to Astra 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 Astra 31.5°E..The move of Astra 2C was started in May 2009 and completed on May 11.
.
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
owned and operated by SES Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
at the 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 based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
orbital slot. Launched in 1997 to the 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...
position by NSAB (later, SES Sirius
SES SIRIUS
SES Sirius, formerly called Nordic Satellite AB is the owner and operator of the two Sirius satellites, which provide the Nordic countries and the Baltic states, with TV, radio, data and communications solutions...
) 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 development of markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Astra 5A is co-located with Astra 1D
Astra 1D
Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last communications satellite from Société Européenne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It was launched to Astra's original solitary operational position at 19.2° east, and was intended as an in-orbit spare for Astra's 1A, 1B and 1C...
, moved in November 2007 from the 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 based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
orbital position.
The Astra 5A satellite provides two broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation, across two footprint
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...
s, called the CEE (Central and Eastern European) beam and the PE (pan-European) beam. The CEE beam provides reception on a 60 cm dish from Poland to northern Turkey, and the Balkans to the Black Sea, while the PE beam extends 60 cm coverage from Tunisia to the Urals and from the Baltic states to Israel.
Countries covered include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Jordan, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Demise of satellite
On January 16, 2009 Astra 5A "experienced a technical anomaly leading to the end of the spacecraft's mission". All traffic ceased, with much of it (especially channels for German cable service, Kabel DeutschlandKabel Deutschland
-Company:Kabel Deutschland operates in 13 of the 16 states . In 2006, of the 15.4 million households passed by their cable the company served 9.6 million, however only one third of these are direct customers of Kabel Deutschland, since especially in large apartment complexes the in-house cable...
) transferred to 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 based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
.
Transfer of services to Astra 1D
Astra 1D
Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last communications satellite from Société Européenne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It was launched to Astra's original solitary operational position at 19.2° east, and was intended as an in-orbit spare for Astra's 1A, 1B and 1C...
was not practical because this satellite, although effectively co-located with Astra 5A, is in an 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. This angle is called the orbit's inclination...
and usable only for TV contribution services and other intermittent use.
In March 2009, SES Astra announced that in April, the Astra 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...
satellite was to be moved from the 28.2° east
Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
position to Astra 31.5°E to temporarily take over Astra 5A's mission until Astra 3B is launched to 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 based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
, when another craft currently there can be released to Astra 31.5°E..The move of Astra 2C was started in May 2009 and completed on May 11.
Current status
After the loss of Astra 5A's sun sensors (used to orient towards the sun to charge the craft's batteries) the batteries quickly depleted rendering it impossible to send control information to the satellite. Collisions were a possibility, with Intelsat 802 stated the most probable. In April 2009 SES said that they had managed to regain control of the satellite and that it had been moved out of geostationary orbit, into a higher one, presumably graveyard orbitGraveyard 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...
.
See also
- Astra 1DAstra 1DAstra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last communications satellite from Société Européenne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It was launched to Astra's original solitary operational position at 19.2° east, and was intended as an in-orbit spare for Astra's 1A, 1B and 1C...
co-located satellite - Sirius 2SIRIUS (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...
original designation - SES AstraSES AstraAstra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
satellite operator