Astra 23.5°E
Encyclopedia
Astra 23.5°E is the name for the group of communications satellite
s co-located at the 23.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra
, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg
. 23.5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe
(the others being at 19.2° east, 28.2° east, 13° east, and 5° east).
The satellites currently occupying this position are the Astra 3A
and Astra 3B
craft, which provide for services downlinking in the 10.70 GHz-12.70 GHz range of the Ku band
and 21.40-22.00 GHz range of the Ka band
across most of Central
, Western
and Eastern Europe
and the Middle East
.
A major reason for the usage of Astra 23.5°E as a source for direct-to-home
(DTH) broadcasting is its proximity to Europe’s primary DTH position, Astra 19.2°E
, allowing the use in target countries of a single small dish fitted with a monoblock
Duo LNB
to receive channels from both positions.
, Bulgaria
, Czech Republic
, Germany
, Hungary
, Netherlands
, and Slovakia
.
A service of local, regional and ethnic channels for Italy is expected from this orbital position following an agreement in November 2009 between SES Astra and Milano Teleport to offer capacity to Italian broadcasters.
TV channels for Kabel Deutschland
are broadcast from this position to German cable home, as are channels for (DTH) networks, CanalDigitaal (Netherlands
), TV Vlaanderen, (Belgium
, Flanders
), CS Link (Czech Republic
) and Skylink (Slovakia
and Czech Republic
). In all, over 390 TV and radio channels are broadcast from Astra 23.5°E to almost 2.5 million homes in Europe.
In January 2011 Astra announced that Bulgarian DTH operator Satellite BG would use three transponders on Astra 3B at 23.5°E for broadcasting a package of more than 60 standard definition channels and 12 high definition channels, including sports, film, factual and children’s TV, and all major Bulgarian public and commercial services to TV homes across Bulgaria.
Astra 23.5°E was the home of Euro1080
, Europe’s first full-time commercial HDTV broadcaster since January 1, 2004, until they moved their channels to Eutelsat W3A (7° east) in late 2008.
The Astra 23.5°E position is also home to ASTRA2Connect
, a two-way satellite broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet access and triple-play capabilities to consumers in Europe.
(later, Deutsche Telekom
). DFS-Kopernikus 1 was first positioned at 23.5° east and then moved to 33.5° east with the launch of DFS-Kopernikus 3. As DFS-Kopernikus 3 neared the end of its life, an agreement was reached with Deutsche Telekom for SES Astra to use the German position and frequencies, and in August 2001, Astra 1D
was moved to 23.5° east to provide follow-on capacity for DFS-Kopernikus F3 pending the launch of Astra 3A.
Astra 3A was launched in March 2002 to open the Astra 23.5°E position, and Deutsche Telekom contracted for 10 transponders, with all traffic on the old DFS-Kopernikus craft switched to Astra 3A..
With the establishment of Astra 1L at the Astra 19.2°E position in July 2007, Astra 1E
was released from 19.2° east and moved to Astra 23.5°E to replace Astra 1D, which was approaching the end of its design life..
Following the launch of Astra 1M
to the Astra 19.2°E position in November 2008, Astra 1G was moved from 19.2° east to Astra 23.5°E in February 2009 to provide additional capacity..
A new satellite, Astra 3B, was originally scheduled to be launched to Astra 23.5°E in the first quarter of 2010, to replace all the capacity currently at this orbital position, but was beset by launcher delays, postponed on the launch pad on March 24, 2010 and April 9, 2010 for a faulty pressure regulator in the Ariane 5 rocket's main stage. Astra 3B was finally successfully launched on May 21, 2010. and came into commercial service in June, after in-orbit testing, when Astra 1E and Astra 1G were released from service. In July 2010, Astra 1G was moved from Astra 23.5°E to Astra 31.5°E
. Astra 1E remained at this position a little longer with no transponders in use, but in August 2010 it was moved westwards to Astra 5°E
to provide backup for Astra 4A pending the launch of Astra 4B to that position in 2011.
In April 2011 the Thor 2
satellite was moved to 23.5°E in an inclined orbit
. Thor 2 was originally launched to 0.8°W on May 21, 1997 and retired from DTH
service in 2008. It was leased from owners, Telenor
by SES-Astra in 2008 and initially moved to the 5°E orbital position. In July 2011 Thor 2 had only two active transponders, both carrying the channel, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg.
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
s co-located at the 23.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg
Betzdorf, Luxembourg
Betzdorf is a commune and village in eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Grevenmacher, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher. The commune's administrative centre is Berg....
. 23.5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(the others being at 19.2° east, 28.2° east, 13° east, and 5° east).
The satellites currently occupying this position are the Astra 3A
Astra 3A
Astra 3A is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, launched in 2002 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital slot providing digital television and radio for DTH and cable, multimedia and interactive services, corporate networks, and occasional and other business services to central...
and Astra 3B
Astra 3B
Astra 3B is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, launched in 2010 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital slot providing digital television and radio for direct-to-home , and two-way satellite broadband services across Europe and the Middle East....
craft, which provide for services downlinking in the 10.70 GHz-12.70 GHz range of the Ku band
Ku band
The Kμ band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to —in other words, the band directly below the K-band...
and 21.40-22.00 GHz range of the Ka band
Ka band
The Ka band covers the frequencies of 26.5–40 GHz. The Ka band is part of the K band of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. This symbol refers to "K-above" — in other words, the band directly above the K-band...
across most of Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, Western
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
A major reason for the usage of Astra 23.5°E as a source for direct-to-home
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
(DTH) broadcasting is its proximity to Europe’s primary DTH position, 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....
, allowing the use in target countries of a single small dish fitted with a monoblock
Monoblock LNB
A Monoblock LNB is a type of Low-noise block converter used in communications satellite reception. This dual LNB is the simplest solution to achieve multifeed reception for two satellites....
Duo LNB
Duo LNB
A Duo LNB is a double low noise block-downconverter developed by SES Astra for the simultaneous reception of satellite television signals from both the Astra 23.5°E and Astra 19.2°E satellite positions....
to receive channels from both positions.
Previous
- Astra 1DAstra 1DAstra 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...
- Astra 1EAstra 1EAstra 1E is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, and launched in 1995 to the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot to provide digital television and radio for DTH across Europe....
- Astra 1G
- DFS-Kopernikus 1 (operated by Deutsche Telekom)
- DFS-Kopernikus 3 (operated by Deutsche Telekom)
Market
Astra 23.5°E is a major source of TV and radio channels and multimedia services for parts of Europe. While the satellite Astra 3B can reach most parts of the continent, this position is primarily used for channels broadcast to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular: BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
.
A service of local, regional and ethnic channels for Italy is expected from this orbital position following an agreement in November 2009 between SES Astra and Milano Teleport to offer capacity to Italian broadcasters.
TV channels for Kabel Deutschland
Kabel Deutschland
-Company:Kabel Deutschland operates in 13 of the 16 states . In 2006, of the 15.4 million households passed by their cable the company served 9.6 million, however only one third of these are direct customers of Kabel Deutschland, since especially in large apartment complexes the in-house cable...
are broadcast from this position to German cable home, as are channels for (DTH) networks, CanalDigitaal (Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
), TV Vlaanderen, (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
), CS Link (Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) and Skylink (Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
and Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
). In all, over 390 TV and radio channels are broadcast from Astra 23.5°E to almost 2.5 million homes in Europe.
In January 2011 Astra announced that Bulgarian DTH operator Satellite BG would use three transponders on Astra 3B at 23.5°E for broadcasting a package of more than 60 standard definition channels and 12 high definition channels, including sports, film, factual and children’s TV, and all major Bulgarian public and commercial services to TV homes across Bulgaria.
Astra 23.5°E was the home of Euro1080
Euro1080
Euro1080 was the first commercial broadcaster in Europe to air full-time HDTV content. It was founded by Gabriel Fehervari in 2004 and is owned by Alfacam....
, Europe’s first full-time commercial HDTV broadcaster since January 1, 2004, until they moved their channels to Eutelsat W3A (7° east) in late 2008.
The Astra 23.5°E position is also home to ASTRA2Connect
ASTRA2Connect
ASTRA2Connect is a two-way satellite broadband Internet service available across Europe, which launched in March 2007, and uses the ASTRA series of geostationary satellites...
, a two-way satellite broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet access and triple-play capabilities to consumers in Europe.
Reach
Services from the Astra satellites at 23.5° east are received in 12.52 million households (1.95 million by direct-to-home satellite and 10.57 million via cable).History
The 23.5° east orbital position was first occupied by the DFS-Kopernikus 1 and DFS-Kopernikus 3 satellites, launched in June 1989 and October 1992, respectively, to provide channel feeds to German cable headends for Deutsche BundespostDeutsche Bundespost
The Deutsche Bundespost was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost . Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post...
(later, Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
). DFS-Kopernikus 1 was first positioned at 23.5° east and then moved to 33.5° east with the launch of DFS-Kopernikus 3. As DFS-Kopernikus 3 neared the end of its life, an agreement was reached with Deutsche Telekom for SES Astra to use the German position and frequencies, and in August 2001, 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...
was moved to 23.5° east to provide follow-on capacity for DFS-Kopernikus F3 pending the launch of Astra 3A.
Astra 3A was launched in March 2002 to open the Astra 23.5°E position, and Deutsche Telekom contracted for 10 transponders, with all traffic on the old DFS-Kopernikus craft switched to Astra 3A..
With the establishment of Astra 1L at the Astra 19.2°E position in July 2007, Astra 1E
Astra 1E
Astra 1E is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, and launched in 1995 to the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot to provide digital television and radio for DTH across Europe....
was released from 19.2° east and moved to Astra 23.5°E to replace Astra 1D, which was approaching the end of its design life..
Following the launch of Astra 1M
Astra 1M
Astra 1M is a Luxembourgian geostationary communications satellite which is operated by SES Astra. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 19.2 degrees East, from where it is used to provide direct-to-home broadcasting to Europe....
to the Astra 19.2°E position in November 2008, Astra 1G was moved from 19.2° east to Astra 23.5°E in February 2009 to provide additional capacity..
A new satellite, Astra 3B, was originally scheduled to be launched to Astra 23.5°E in the first quarter of 2010, to replace all the capacity currently at this orbital position, but was beset by launcher delays, postponed on the launch pad on March 24, 2010 and April 9, 2010 for a faulty pressure regulator in the Ariane 5 rocket's main stage. Astra 3B was finally successfully launched on May 21, 2010. and came into commercial service in June, after in-orbit testing, when Astra 1E and Astra 1G were released from service. In July 2010, Astra 1G was moved from Astra 23.5°E to Astra 31.5°E
Astra 31.5°E
Astra 31.5°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 31.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
. Astra 1E remained at this position a little longer with no transponders in use, but in August 2010 it was moved westwards to Astra 5°E
Astra 5°E
Astra 5°E is the name for the communications satellites co-located at the 5° east position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
to provide backup for Astra 4A pending the launch of Astra 4B to that position in 2011.
In April 2011 the Thor 2
Thor (satellite)
Thor is a family of satellites designed, launched and tested by Hughes Space and Communications for British Satellite Broadcasting , and were used for Britain's Direct Broadcast Service. Thor is owned by Telenor...
satellite was moved to 23.5°E in an inclined orbit
Inclined orbit
A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around the Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than zero degrees with the equatorial plane. This angle is called the orbit's inclination...
. Thor 2 was originally launched to 0.8°W on May 21, 1997 and retired from DTH
DTH
DTH may refer to:* The Daily Tar Heel, a student newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill* Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City* Danmarks Tekniske Højskole, a previous name for the Technical University of Denmark...
service in 2008. It was leased from owners, Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
by SES-Astra in 2008 and initially moved to the 5°E orbital position. In July 2011 Thor 2 had only two active transponders, both carrying the channel, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg.
See also
- Astra 5°EAstra 5°EAstra 5°E is the name for the communications satellites co-located at the 5° east position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
- Astra 19.2°EAstra 19.2°EAstra 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....
- Astra 28.2°EAstra 28.2°EAstra 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...
- Astra 31.5°EAstra 31.5°EAstra 31.5°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 31.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
- SES AstraSES AstraAstra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
satellite owner - ASTRA2ConnectASTRA2ConnectASTRA2Connect is a two-way satellite broadband Internet service available across Europe, which launched in March 2007, and uses the ASTRA series of geostationary satellites...
- Duo LNBDuo LNBA Duo LNB is a double low noise block-downconverter developed by SES Astra for the simultaneous reception of satellite television signals from both the Astra 23.5°E and Astra 19.2°E satellite positions....
- DFS-Kopernikus
External links
- SES guide to receiving Astra satellites
- SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites
- SES fleet information and map
- OnAstra - Official consumers/viewers' site
- SES - Official trade/industry site
- SES Astra HDTV website
- ASTRA2Connect website
- Astra 23.5°E at Lyngsat