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Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra
communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...
s co-located at the 28.2° East position in the
Clarke Belt A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude ...
that are owned and operated by SES based in
Betzdorf, Luxembourg Betzdorf ( lb, Betzder ) is a commune and town in the canton of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. , the town of Betzdorf, which lies in the north-east of the commune, has a population of 254 inhabitants. Other settlements within the commune i ...
. It is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe (the others being at 19.2° East, 13° East, 23.5° East, and 5° East). The Astra satellites at 28.2° East provide for services
downlink In a telecommunications network, a link is a communication channel that connects two or more devices for the purpose of data transmission. The link may be a dedicated physical link or a virtual circuit that uses one or more physical links or shar ...
ing in the 10.70–12.70 GHz range of the Ku band.


Satellite craft in use


Current

*
Astra 2E 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 a ...
(launched in 2013) * Astra 2F (launched in 2012) * Astra 2G (launched in 2014)


Previous

*
Astra 1D Astra 1D is a geostationary communications satellite launched in 1994 by the Société Européenne des Satellites ( SES). , the craft remains in service for occasional use. Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last Astra communic ...
(launched in 1994) *
Astra 1N Astra 1N is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES and is positioned at the Astra 19.2°E orbital position. It was launched in 2011 and is the fourth satellite to be built for Astra by Astrium (now Airbus Defence ...
(launched in 2011) * Astra 2A (launched in 1998) * Astra 2B (launched in 2000) *
Astra 2C Astra 2C is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by Société Eurpéenne des Satellites. Designed to join Astra 2A and Astra 2B at the Astra 28.2°E orbital position providing digital television and radio broadcast se ...
(launched in 2001) *
Astra 2D Astra 2D is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), and located at 28.2° East in the geostationary orbit until June 2015. It is a Hughes Space and Communications HS-376HP ...
(launched in 2000) *
Eutelsat 28A Eutelsat 133 West A (formerly Eurobird 1, Eutelsat 28A, and Eutelsat 33C) is a Eutelsat operated Eurobird satellite, used primarily for digital television. It was launched in March 2001, and after a short period testing at 33°E, joined Eutels ...
, also known as ''Eurobird 1'' (launched in 2001) * Eutelsat 28B, also known as ''Eurobird 2'' (launched in 2008) * Sirius 3 (retired, launched in 1998)


Market

The satellites at the Astra 28.2°E position primarily provide digital TV, digital radio and multimedia services to the UK and Republic of Ireland, broadcasting more than 470 TV, radio and interactive channels to homes in the UK and Ireland. The majority of these channels broadcast as part of
British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
’s Sky Digital pay-TV platform or the
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
platform, and they include free-to-air and encrypted high definition television (HDTV) channels. At this position, Astra 2F also provides capacity on a spot beam deployed on West Africa, and Astra 2E provides a beam across the Middle East.


Capacity and reach

the Astra satellites at 28.2° east broadcast on 305 transponders (11 Ka-band and 294 Ku-band) to 45.7 million households (23.8 million via
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
, 9.2 million via
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...
and 12.7 million direct to home
satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite. The term most commonly means a dish which receives direct-broadcast satellite televisio ...
es).


History

This position was the second orbital position used by SES (after
Astra 19.2°E 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 19.2°E used to be commonly ...
) and the first to provide only digital channels. The first craft to occupy this position was
Astra 1D Astra 1D is a geostationary communications satellite launched in 1994 by the Société Européenne des Satellites ( SES). , the craft remains in service for occasional use. Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last Astra communic ...
, relocated from Astra 19.2°E in March 1998 to provide capacity for testing UK digital TV transmissions before the start of Sky Digital (originally slated for June 1998 but then delayed until October 1998). Following the successful launch of Astra 2A to the Astra 28.2°E position on August 30, 1998, Astra 1D was returned to 19.2°E in October 1998. Sirius 3, from Nordic Satellite AB (later,
SES Sirius SES Sirius, formerly called Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB) was 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. The company is today entir ...
then incorporated in SES) was leased to SES immediately after its launch on October 5, 1998, for a period of 12 months (after which it was moved to its original destination of 5°E) to provide further capacity at 28.2°E for the expanding Sky Digital service and to back up Astra 2A, pending the launch of Astra 2B on September 14, 2000. Although
Astra 2C Astra 2C is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by Société Eurpéenne des Satellites. Designed to join Astra 2A and Astra 2B at the Astra 28.2°E orbital position providing digital television and radio broadcast se ...
was built for the Astra 28.2°E position, it was first deployed after launch in 2001 at 19.2°E where it provided pan-European capacity pending the launch of
Astra 1L Astra 1L, is one of the Astra geostationary satellites owned and operated by SES, was purchased in June 2003. Launch It was launched on 4 May 2007, at 22:29 UTC by an Ariane 5ECA from Centre Spatial Guyanais at Kourou, French Guiana. ...
. Astra 2C was moved to the Astra 28.2°E position in August 2007. In March 2009, SES announced that in April, Astra 2C was to be moved to Astra 31.5°E to temporarily take over the mission of
Astra 5A 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 (Nordiska Satelit AB) (later SES Sirius, and now a non-autonomous part of SES) as Sir ...
which had failed in orbit, and to remain at Astra 31.5°E for about one year until
Astra 3B 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 ...
was launched to
Astra 23.5°E 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 Europ ...
, when another craft at that position could be released to Astra 31.5°E and Astra 2C returned to 28.2° east. The move of Astra 2C to Astra 31.5°E was completed on May 11. Astra 3B was brought into operation at Astra 23.5°E in June 2011, however, in September 2010, Astra 2C was moved back to Astra 19.2°E. Late in 2009 SES announced that three more satellites have been ordered for this position. The three craft, Astra 2E, Astra 2F and Astra 2G, are being built by
Astrium Astrium was an aerospace manufacturer subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) that provided civil and military space systems and services from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Astrium had a turnover of €5.8 billion and 1 ...
on the Eurostar E3000 platform for Ku and Ka band use in Europe and Africa, and will be launched between 2012 and 2014. In August 2011
Astra 1N Astra 1N is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES and is positioned at the Astra 19.2°E orbital position. It was launched in 2011 and is the fourth satellite to be built for Astra by Astrium (now Airbus Defence ...
was launched to the 28.2°E position to provide interim capacity for the UK and Republic of Ireland with a UK spot beam receivable on 45 cm dishes. Astra 1N was originally designed to provide digital television and radio broadcast services across Europe from the Astra 19.2°E position and is expected to be moved to that orbital position when Astra 2E, Astra 2F and Astra 2G come into service. All traffic on Astra 2D was transferred to Astra 1N in early 2012. Astra 2D remained co-located at 28.2°E, with no transponder activity, until it was repositioned to
Astra 5°E 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 E ...
in July 2015. On September 28, 2012, Astra 2F was successfully launched from
Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...
in
French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...
. The satellite underwent tests at 43.5°E and began commercial operations at 28.2°E on November 21, 2012. As of June 2013 five transponders are active on Astra 2F's UK beam and two on the West Africa beam. This released Astra 2B for its planned relocation to the Astra 19.2°E position in February 2013. Astra 2E was launched to the Astra 28.2°E position from
Baikonur Baikonur ( kk, Байқоңыр, ; russian: Байконур, translit=Baykonur), formerly known as Leninsk, is a city of republic significance in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered ...
in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
on September 30, 2013 following a 10-week delay caused by the catastrophic failure of a previous launch. When Astra 2E became operational in February 2014, all channels currently broadcasting from Astra 1N were moved to Astra 2E and Astra 1N relocated to its design location of 19.2°E.) Astra 2G was launched on December 27, 2014. The craft was positioned at 21.0°E for three months before being moved to 43.5°E for testing. It was then moved west to be co-located with the Astra 2E and Astra 2F satellites at 28.2°E. In March 2015, two years beyond Astra 2A's projected lifespan, and following the launches of
Astra 2E 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 a ...
in 2013, Astra 2F in 2012, and Astra 2G in 2014 to 28.2°E (Astra 1G initially going to 21.0°E), all remaining traffic was transferred from Astra 2A to the newer satellites. As of June 29, 2015, Astra 2A remains at the 28.2°E slot but is inactive and is expected to be moved to
Astra 23.5°E 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 Europ ...
, to operate as a backup satellite to
Astra 3B 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 ...
. On June 15, 2015, Astra 2G arrived at the Astra 28.2°E slot and on June 18 the first channels transferred from Astra 2E, Astra 2F and, in particular from Eutelsat 28A, which was some two years beyond its expected end-of-life and operating with some transponders considerably under power. The final Eutelsat 28A channels, including the
Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
EPG data channel, transferred to Astra 2G on June 29, 2015.


See also

* List of free-to-air channels at Astra 28.2°E * SES S.A. satellite owner *
Astra 19.2°E 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 19.2°E used to be commonly ...
*
Astra 5°E 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 E ...
*
Astra 23.5°E 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 Europ ...
* Astra 31.5°E


References


External links


Astra consumers/viewers' websiteSES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites

SES fleet information and map SES HDTV websiteAstra website
{{DEFAULTSORT:028.2 E Communications satellite orbital positions SES S.A.