Astra 2A is one of the Astra

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 ...

s owned by Société Européenne des Satellites. Launched in 1998 into the 28.2° East orbital position, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

, who utilised it to launch their new Sky Digital service. In March 2015, the satellite has been deactivated and relocated to 113.5° East.

History

The satellite suffered pre-launch technical issues with its apogee motors and was moved to a launch by the Proton-K / DM-03 rather than the

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads in ...

, as the Proton can inject directly in

geostationary orbit 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 altitu ...

(GEO). When positioned at 28.2 East, it joined DFS Kopernikus-1, which served mainly

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

. The satellite was the first of Astra's craft to never carry analogue television services (with the exception of a solitary test card in 1999 ), and as of 2006, carried standard definition digital television, digital radio, and high-definition digital television, as well as Sky Interactive streams and the AVC Broadband and Silvermead satellite Internet services. Two beams "2A North" and "2A South" transmit on horizontal and vertical polarisation. The South beam covers almost all of Europe, with the North beam covering only Northern Europe at a high power. In March 2015, two years beyond Astra 2A's projected lifespan, and following the launches of

Astra 2E Astra 2E is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position on 30 September 2013 after a 10-week delay caused by launcher problems. The satellite provides free-to-air a ...

in 2013, Astra 2F in 2012, and Astra 2G in 2014 to 28.2° East, all remaining traffic was transferred from Astra 2A to the newer satellites. From 25 March 2015, Astra 2A remained at 28.2° East, inactive, and was expected to be moved to

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 ...

to operate as a backup satellite to Astra 3B but in the summer of 2016 it was instead moved to 113.5°E. In July 2018, Astra 2A started moving west at approximately 0.6°/day to arrive at its new position of 100° East in August 2018. In May 2020, Astra 2A started moving west at approx 0.8°/day. and in the autumn 2020, it was back at 28.2°E. The satellite was moved to 57.2°E in 2022REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS
Accessed 23 August 2022

References

External links

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SES fleet information and map

Official SES site
{{Orbital launches in 1998 Astra satellites Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellites using the BSS-601 bus Spacecraft launched in 1998 1998 in Luxembourg Satellites of Luxembourg

History

See also

References

External links