Astra 1A
Encyclopedia
Astra 1A was the first satellite
launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites). During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally.
The satellite provided television coverage to Western Europe and was revolutionary as one of the first medium-powered satellites, allowing reception with smaller dishes than before. Among the channels carried in the first years were the entire four channel Sky Television
(later British Sky Broadcasting
, after the merger with rival British Satellite Broadcasting
on the Marcopolo satellite) service consisting of Sky One/Sky Channel, Sky News
, Sky Movies
and Eurosport
, the Scandinavian TV3
and TV1000
, the German Pro7, Sat.1
, RTL plus, 3sat
and Teleclub
, the Dutch RTL4 as well as FilmNet
, Screensport
, MTV Europe
, The Children's Channel
and Lifestyle.
Astra 1A began television broadcasts on February 5, 1989. Until 1998 all of SES' satellites were co-located with 1A at 19.2° east, leading that position to be known mostly as Astra 1 (later, Astra 19.2°E
), although Astra 2C
also used to operate there, before it moved to 28.2° east
in autumn 2007.
In December 2004 Astra 1A was moved into a "Graveyard orbit
" after some time at 5.2°E providing data services.
became the first channel on the satellite when it launched on transponder 11 on February 1. Other channels such as Sky Channel
, Eurosport
, Sky News
and Sky Movies
from Sky Television, as well as the Scandinavian TV3 and MTV Europe
all launched in February. The Children's Channel
/Lifestyle
and Screensport
followed in March. The Scandinavian pay channel TV1000
launched in August 1989.
Sky Television had originally planned to launch The Disney Channel and Sky Arts on the Astra satellite in 1989, but these plans failed to materialize. The transponders intended for these channels, were used for Eurosport and the Dutch RTL Veronique (which would later become RTL4), respectively. The first German language programmes, RTL plus, Sat.1
and Pro 7
all launched on December 8. With the launch of 3sat
in March 1990 and Teleclub
in June all transponders were occupied.
Lifestyle was replaced by VOX in January 1993. Soon thereafter, Screensport merged with Eurosport and its transponder was replaced by RTL2. RTL 4 moved to Astra 1D
in 1995 and was replaced by Super RTL
. Teleclub was replaced by Kabel 1
during the same year. TV3 and TV1000 left Astra in 1996 and their transponders were taken over by BSkyB who used them for Fox Kids/Sky Two
and Granada Plus
/Granada Men & Motors. Filmnet also left in 1996, to be replaced by Bloomberg Germany
in 1997.
BSkyB ended their analogue service in 2001, which meant that its services closed down. By the end of 2001, the satellite was moved from 19.2 degrees east to serve few years at 5,2 degrees east.
On 19.2 degrees east, the satellite was replaced by Astra 1F. Many channels, including RTL II, RTL, Eurosport, VOX, Sat.1, Kabel Eins, Super RTL and ProSieben were still broadcasting in analogue on the same frequencies in 2009.
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites). During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally.
The satellite provided television coverage to Western Europe and was revolutionary as one of the first medium-powered satellites, allowing reception with smaller dishes than before. Among the channels carried in the first years were the entire four channel Sky Television
Sky Television plc
Sky Television plc was a public limited company which operated its four-channel satellite television service, launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on 5 February 1989...
(later British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
, after the merger with rival British Satellite Broadcasting
British Satellite Broadcasting
British Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
on the Marcopolo satellite) service consisting of Sky One/Sky Channel, Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...
and Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
, the Scandinavian TV3
TV3 (Viasat)
TV3 is the brand name used by Viasat's flagship channels in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and Slovenia. Viasat is part of the Swedish media company Modern Times Group...
and TV1000
TV1000
TV1000 is a group of cable and satellite movie channels broadcasting to the Nordic countries and owned by Modern Times Group . It is also the name of the flagship channel.-History:...
, the German Pro7, Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....
, RTL plus, 3sat
3sat
3sat is the name of a public, advertising-free, television network in Central Europe. The programming is in German and is broadcast primarily within Germany, Austria and Switzerland .3sat was established for cultural...
and Teleclub
Teleclub
Teleclub, founded in 1982 in Switzerland, is one of the longest established Pay TV broadcasters in Europe. Between 1984 and 1991 the service was also available in Germany. Today it is only available in Switzerland....
, the Dutch RTL4 as well as FilmNet
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
, Screensport
Screensport
Screensport was a pan-European sports television channel. The network was launched as a stand-alone channel in Manchester on 29th March 1984 and later acquired by the WH Smith Television Group in 1987...
, MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
, The Children's Channel
The Children's Channel
The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a television station in the United Kingdom, Benelux and Scandinavia, which was owned by Flextech . It began broadcasting on 1 September 1984, and was closed on 3 April 1998...
and Lifestyle.
Astra 1A began television broadcasts on February 5, 1989. Until 1998 all of SES' satellites were co-located with 1A at 19.2° east, leading that position to be known mostly as Astra 1 (later, Astra 19.2°E
Astra 19.2°E
Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg....
), although 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...
also used to operate there, before it moved to 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...
in autumn 2007.
In December 2004 Astra 1A was moved into a "Graveyard orbit
Graveyard 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...
" after some time at 5.2°E providing data services.
History
The satellite came into its position on January 7, 1989. FilmNetFilmnet
Nova Cinema is a premium television service available in Greece that broadcasts blockbuster movies and hit series. It is the only 24/7 Movie service in Greece and it launched in 1994. It is owned by Forthnet, who own and operate Nova a DTH satellite service and Nova Sports—a sports channel.Nova...
became the first channel on the satellite when it launched on transponder 11 on February 1. Other channels such as Sky Channel
Sky Channel
Sky Channel can refer to any of the following.* In Europe, Sky Channel was a satellite television channel that was broadcast in the 1980s, it went on to become Sky1....
, Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
, Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
and Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...
from Sky Television, as well as the Scandinavian TV3 and MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
all launched in February. The Children's Channel
The Children's Channel
The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a television station in the United Kingdom, Benelux and Scandinavia, which was owned by Flextech . It began broadcasting on 1 September 1984, and was closed on 3 April 1998...
/Lifestyle
Lifestyle (TV channel)
Launched on 30 October 1985, Lifestyle was a British daytime television channel dedicated to women and family, and was broadcast on cable and on the transponder 5 of the Astra satellite. Lifestyle's lineup consisted on magazines, novelas and movies. The programming was linked by an in vision...
and Screensport
Screensport
Screensport was a pan-European sports television channel. The network was launched as a stand-alone channel in Manchester on 29th March 1984 and later acquired by the WH Smith Television Group in 1987...
followed in March. The Scandinavian pay channel TV1000
TV1000
TV1000 is a group of cable and satellite movie channels broadcasting to the Nordic countries and owned by Modern Times Group . It is also the name of the flagship channel.-History:...
launched in August 1989.
Sky Television had originally planned to launch The Disney Channel and Sky Arts on the Astra satellite in 1989, but these plans failed to materialize. The transponders intended for these channels, were used for Eurosport and the Dutch RTL Veronique (which would later become RTL4), respectively. The first German language programmes, RTL plus, Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....
and Pro 7
Pro 7
ProSieben is a commercial television station in Germany distributed to a large extent via cable and satellite along with DVB-T in larger population centres. It began operations on January 1, 1989. Since 2003 the station, as part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media, is owned by a group of investors led by...
all launched on December 8. With the launch of 3sat
3sat
3sat is the name of a public, advertising-free, television network in Central Europe. The programming is in German and is broadcast primarily within Germany, Austria and Switzerland .3sat was established for cultural...
in March 1990 and Teleclub
Teleclub
Teleclub, founded in 1982 in Switzerland, is one of the longest established Pay TV broadcasters in Europe. Between 1984 and 1991 the service was also available in Germany. Today it is only available in Switzerland....
in June all transponders were occupied.
Lifestyle was replaced by VOX in January 1993. Soon thereafter, Screensport merged with Eurosport and its transponder was replaced by RTL2. RTL 4 moved 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...
in 1995 and was replaced by Super RTL
Super RTL
Super RTL is a Cologne-based German television network operated by RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG. It was the second German television channel aimed mostly at children...
. Teleclub was replaced by Kabel 1
Kabel 1
kabel eins is a commercial television channel in Germany. It started business on 29 February 1992, as the Kabelkanal and belongs to the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The channel is largely known for showing classic American films as well as series and documentaries...
during the same year. TV3 and TV1000 left Astra in 1996 and their transponders were taken over by BSkyB who used them for Fox Kids/Sky Two
Sky Two
Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...
and Granada Plus
Granada Plus
Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by...
/Granada Men & Motors. Filmnet also left in 1996, to be replaced by Bloomberg Germany
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour global network broadcasting business and financial news. It is distributed globally, reaching over 200 million homes worldwide. It is owned and operated by Bloomberg L.P...
in 1997.
BSkyB ended their analogue service in 2001, which meant that its services closed down. By the end of 2001, the satellite was moved from 19.2 degrees east to serve few years at 5,2 degrees east.
On 19.2 degrees east, the satellite was replaced by Astra 1F. Many channels, including RTL II, RTL, Eurosport, VOX, Sat.1, Kabel Eins, Super RTL and ProSieben were still broadcasting in analogue on the same frequencies in 2009.
Transponders
| Transponder | Frequency | Channels carried |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11,214 H | Screensport Screensport Screensport was a pan-European sports television channel. The network was launched as a stand-alone channel in Manchester on 29th March 1984 and later acquired by the WH Smith Television Group in 1987... (1989–1993), RTL2 (1993-) |
| 2 | 11,229 V | RTL RTL Television Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres... (1989-), RTL Plus |
| 3 | 11,244 H | TV3 Sweden (1989–1996), Granada Plus Granada Plus Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by... /Granada Men & Motors (1996–2001) RTL Shop RTL Shop Channel 21, formerly known as RTL Shop, is a German cable and satellite shopping network based in Hanover. The network was part of Europe's largest media company RTL Group and supplies programming to more than 20 German language stations. RTL Group is a unit of the in Germany based media company... (2001) |
| 4 | 11,259 V | Eurosport Eurosport Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events... (1989-) |
| 5 | 11,273 H | Lifestyle/The Children's Channel The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a television station in the United Kingdom, Benelux and Scandinavia, which was owned by Flextech . It began broadcasting on 1 September 1984, and was closed on 3 April 1998... (1989–1993), JSTV JSTV is a Japanese broadcaster in the Middle East, Europe, Russia and North Africa. Launched in March 1990, broadcasting from London, the channel has broadcast for two hours each night from 8pm on the Lifestyle transponder 5 on the Astra 1A satellite in analogue format... (1990–1991), VOX (1993-), Sell-A-Vision |
| 6 | 11,288 V | Sat.1 Sat.1 Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television.... (1989-) |
| 7 | 11,303 H | TV1000 TV1000 TV1000 is a group of cable and satellite movie channels broadcasting to the Nordic countries and owned by Modern Times Group . It is also the name of the flagship channel.-History:... (1989–1996), Sky2 (1996–1997) Fox Kids (1996–2001), National Geographic Channel National Geographic Channel (UK) The National Geographic Channel is a television channel that features documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society. It features some programming similar to that on the Discovery Channel such as nature and science documentaries. The channel was launched in Europe in September 1997 and... (1997–2001) Viva Zwei (2001) |
| 8 | >Sky One | |
| 9 | 11,332 H | Eurosport Eurosport Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events... (1989), Teleclub Teleclub Teleclub, founded in 1982 in Switzerland, is one of the longest established Pay TV broadcasters in Europe. Between 1984 and 1991 the service was also available in Germany. Today it is only available in Switzerland.... (1990–1995) Kabel 1 Kabel 1 kabel eins is a commercial television channel in Germany. It started business on 29 February 1992, as the Kabelkanal and belongs to the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The channel is largely known for showing classic American films as well as series and documentaries... (1995-) |
| 10 | 11,347 V | 3sat 3sat 3sat is the name of a public, advertising-free, television network in Central Europe. The programming is in German and is broadcast primarily within Germany, Austria and Switzerland .3sat was established for cultural... |
| 11 | 11,362 H | FilmNet Filmnet Nova Cinema is a premium television service available in Greece that broadcasts blockbuster movies and hit series. It is the only 24/7 Movie service in Greece and it launched in 1994. It is owned by Forthnet, who own and operate Nova a DTH satellite service and Nova Sports—a sports channel.Nova... (1989–1996), Bloomberg Bloomberg Television Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour global network broadcasting business and financial news. It is distributed globally, reaching over 200 million homes worldwide. It is owned and operated by Bloomberg L.P... (1997-) |
| 12 | 11,377 V | Sky News Sky News Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New... (1989–2001) |
| 13 | 11,391 H | RTL 4 RTL 4 RTL 4 is a commercial television station in the Netherlands. It is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. The station has three sister tv channels: RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8... (1990–1995), Super RTL Super RTL Super RTL is a Cologne-based German television network operated by RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG. It was the second German television channel aimed mostly at children... (1995-) |
| 14 | 11,406 V | Pro Sieben (1989-) |
| 15 | 11,421 H | MTV Europe MTV Europe MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent... (1989-) |
| 16 | 11,436 V | Sky Movies Sky Movies Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland... (1989–2001) |