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 altitud ...

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 ...

launched in 1993 by the Société Européenne des Satellites ( SES), now SES Astra. 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 ...

orbital position. The satellite was intended to be replaced in 2002, along with Astra 1B, by Astra 1K but this satellite failed to reach its intended orbit. It was eventually relieved of its remaining television/radio payloads by Astra 1KR in 2006. In November 2006, prior to the launch of

Astra 1L Astra 1L, is one of the Astra geostationary satellites owned and operated by SES, was purchased in June 2003. Launch It was launched on 4 May 2007, at 22:29 UTC by an Ariane 5ECA from Centre Spatial Guyanais at Kourou, French Guiana. ...

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 ha ...

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 Astra 5°E is the name for the Astra communications satellites co-located at the 5° east position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving 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 satellite ...

, the rightholder for the 3° allocation, came on air with Eutelsat 3A 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 AMC-6, formerly GE-6, is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by SES S.A. Launched on 21 October 2000, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, AMC-6 became the fifth hybrid C-band / Ku-band satellite in the GE Americom fleet. ...

satellite, to 1.2° West, to 152° West, to 40° West next to SES-6, 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