DFS Kopernikus (meaning ''Deutscher Fernmeldesatellit Kopernikus'') was the name of three geostationary satellites of

Deutsche Bundespost The Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was a German state-run postal service and telecommunications business founded in 1947. It was initially the second largest federal employer during its time. After staff reductions in the 19 ...

and later

Deutsche Telekom AG Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...

. They are no longer in use.

DFS Kopernicus-3

When DFS Kopernikus-3 was nearing the end of its life, SES sealed an agreement with Deutsche Telekom to use the 23.5° East position and frequencies, and in August 2001,

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 ...

was moved there."New position for ASTRA 1D"
''Advanced Television'' (21 August 2001) Retrieved on 17 April 2021 The

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 ...

position was officially opened in March 2002 with the launch and positioning of

Astra 3A Astra 3A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by Société Européenne des Satellites, launched in March 2002 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital position to provide digital television and radio for direct to home (DTH) a ...

. Deutsche Telekom contracted for 10 transponders on that craft and shortly switched over all traffic from

DFS Kopernikus-3 DFS Kopernikus-3 (or Deutscher Fernmelde Satellit-3 and Hellas Sat 1) was a communications satellite operated by Deutsche Telekom. Satellite description The DFS Kopernikus series of satellites debuted in 1989 with the third being launched in ...

Station keeping

The orbital station-keeping manoeuvres of the satellites were conducted by the Flight Dynamics Group of the

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...

(DLR), German Space Operations Center, in

Oberpfaffenhofen Oberpfaffenhofen is a village that is part of the municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. It is located about from the city center of Munich. Village The village is home to the Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

. The satellites were located at the following positions: * DFS Kopernikus-1: 23.5° East (1989-1994), later 33.5° East (1994-2002), replaced by

* DFS Kopernikus-2: 28.5° East (1994–2000?) *

: 23.5° East (1994–2003)

German satellite television market share in 1990

* SES: ca. 80% * DFS Kopernikus: ca. 20% * TV-SAT 2: under 1%

References

External links

DFS Kopernikus in GSOC

SES fleet information and map

Official Astra consumers/viewers' website

Official SES trade/industry site

Kopernikus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...

Deutsche Telekom {{Germany-stub

DFS Kopernicus-3

Station keeping

German satellite television market share in 1990

See also

References

External links