SES Sirius, formerly called Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB) was the owner and operator of the two

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

satellites, which provide the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

and the

Baltic state The United Baltic Duchy (; ; ), or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name of a short-lived state during World War I that was proclaimed by leaders of the local Baltic German Baltic German nobility, nobility. The attempt to establ ...

s, with TV, radio, data and communications solutions. The company is today entirely owned and controlled by SES and has no independent existence. The 2004 SES Annual Report states that 16.4 million homes received broadcast and broadband services from the Sirius system, 1.5 million from the satellites directly and another 14.9 million from cable networks distributing content via Sirius.

History

In 1982 the governments of Sweden and Norway formed NSAB as part of a wide-ranging partnership for the purpose of "telecommunication satellite cooperation". In 1989 the two governments agreed to end their partnership, the Swedish government assumed full ownership with the acquisition of Norway's 15% share. On April 2, 1989 NSAB's first satellite, the

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation ...

built

Tele-X Tele-X was the first communications satellite serving the Nordic countries. It was launched with an Ariane 2 launch vehicle from Kourou, French Guiana, on 2 April 1989. On 16 January 1998, its fuel was exhausted and it was moved into graveyard ...

, was launched on an

Ariane 2 Ariane 2 was a European expendable space launch vehicle, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) between 1986 and 1989 as part of Ariane family of rockets. The principal manufacturer for the Ariane 2 was Aérospatiale, while the lead agen ...

rocket from French Guiana. The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) was contracted to operate the TELE-X system and in 1993 the company acquired the Swedish government's shares, becoming the sole owner. In late 1993 NSAB acquired Marco Polo 1, a Hughes 376 geostationary communications satellite, from British Sky Broadcasting. Marco Polo 1 was built for and operated by

British Satellite Broadcasting British Satellite Broadcasting plc (BSB) was a television company, based in London, that provided satellite television, direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom. It started broadcasting on 25 March 1990. The company ...

. However following that company's collapse it merged with Sky Television to form BSkyB. In this "merger" Sky was the dominant force and their system of transponder lease from SES' Astra satellites was maintained. Marco Polo 1 (and its sister satellite) were gradually withdrawn from service. In February 1994 Teracom acquired a 50% share of NSAB. The same month Marco Polo 1 re-entered service as Sirius 1 at 5°E. In July 1994 NSAB agreed the purchase of Sirius 2 from Aérospatiale (later

Alcatel Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...

). The satellite was successfully launched on November 12, 1997 by

Ariane 4 The Ariane 4 was a European expendable rocket, expendable launch vehicle in the Ariane (rocket family), Ariane family, developed by the (CNES), the Government of France, French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). The manufacturi ...

rocket. Shortly after launch SES signed a lease agreement for all transponders on the satellite. In 1996 Tele Danmark acquired a 25% share in NSAB from Teracom. In May 1997 NSAB ordered a Hughes 376HP. The Sirius 3 satellite was successfully launched on October 5, 1998, again by Ariane 4 rocket. In October 2000 SES acquired the shares of Tele Danmark and Teracom to become 50-50 joint owner with SSC. SES increased its shareholding to 75% in December 2003, and renamed the company to SES Sirius on December 1, 2005. In January 2008, SES further increased its shareholding in SES Sirius to 90%. In March 2010 SES (as then subsidiary

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 ...

) took full control and in June 2010 the company was renamed SES Astra and the only fully operational satellite, Sirius 4, renamed

Astra 4A Astra 4A (originally Sirius 4) is one of the Astra communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transp ...

Sources

External links

SES
- Official SES site
SES fleet information
{{authority control SES (company) Communications satellite operators Satellite television Government-owned companies of Sweden Science and technology in Sweden Norway–Sweden relations