Astra 1C was a

geostationary 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 ...

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. C ...

launched in 1993 by the Société Européenne des Satellites (

SES SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to: Business and economics * Socioeconomic status * Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland * SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia) * SES S.A., ...

), now

SES Astra SES Astra SA was a corporate subsidiary of SES, based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg, that maintained and operated the Astra series of geostationary communication satellites between 2001 and 2011. Formed in 1985 as Société Européenne des ...

. The satellite remained in service until 2011 and is now derelict.

History

Astra 1C was the third

placed in orbit by SES, and was originally deployed at the

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 k ...

orbital position. The satellite was intended to be replaced in 2002, along with

Astra 1B Astra 1B was the second of the Astra communications satellites launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites) to add extra capacity to the satellite television (direct broadcasting) services from 19.2° East, serving Germa ...

, by

Astra 1K Astra 1K was a communications satellite manufactured by Alcatel Space for SES. When it was launched on 25 November 2002, it was the largest civilian communications satellite ever launched, with a mass of . Intended to replace the Astra 1B sat ...

but this satellite failed to reach its intended orbit. It was eventually relieved of its remaining television/radio payloads by

Astra 1KR Astra 1KR is one of the Astra geostationary satellites owned and operated by SES, was purchased in June 2003. It was launched on 20 April 2006, 20:27:00 UTC as a replacement for Astra 1K, which failed to reach orbit on launch in November 2002. ...

in 2006. In November 2006, prior to the launch of Astra 1L to the 19.2° East position, Astra 1C was placed in an

inclined orbit A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than 0° to the equatorial plane. This angle is called the orbit's inclination. A planet is said to have an inclined orbit around the Sun if it has an ...

and moved first to 2.0° East for tests, and then in February 2007 to 4.6° East, notionally part of the Astra 5°E cluster of satellites but largely unused. After November 2008, the satellite operated back at 2.0° East, in an

. On 2 November 2011, the satellite was taken out of use as

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

, the rightholder for the 3° allocation, came on air with

Eutelsat 3A Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellite ...

and current rules ask for a minimum of 2° separation. In the summer of 2014, the satellite was moved to 73° West, close to SES' AMC-6 satellite, to 1.2° West, to 152° West, to 40° West next to

SES-6 SES-6 is a commercial geostationary communication satellite owned and operated by SES S.A. Launch Constructed by EADS Astrium, it was launched on 3 June 2013 at 09:18:31 UTC from Baikonour by Proton-M / Briz-M launch vehicle and carries 43 ...

, to 91° East in January 2015 and continuously moving west by approximately 5.2° per day to reach 164° East at the end of 2015.Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions
Accessed December 30, 2015

References

External links

OnAstra
- Official consumers/viewers' site
- SES guide to receiving Astra satellites

- SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites
{{Orbital launches in 1993 Astra satellites Derelict satellites orbiting Earth Satellites using the BSS-601 bus 1993 in Luxembourg Satellites of Luxembourg Spacecraft launched in 1993

History

See also

References

External links