Astra 3A 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), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

s owned and operated by SES, launched in March 2002 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital position to provide

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

and radio for direct to home (DTH) and cable, multimedia and interactive services, corporate networks, and occasional and other business services to Europe. The satellite provides two broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation, across two footprints that covered essentially the same areas of Europe – principally the countries of central Europe.

History

Astra 3A was launched to provide follow-on capacity to replace the DFS Kopernikus-3 satellite and deliver additional capacity for the

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

countries and central Europe, to create SES-Astra's third major European satellite hotspot after Astra 19.2°E and Astra 28.2°E with access to channels at both positions using a single dish fitted with a monoblock Duo LNB. In that role, television signals could be received with a 50 cm dish across Germany,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the Netherlands,

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, most of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, and in parts of France, Italy, Poland,

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. Reception was even possible as far afield as Scotland,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

when a larger dish (around 110 cm) was used. In addition to contribution feeds and individual television channels, Astra 3A carried

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

networks including Kabel Deutschland (Germany),

Canal Digitaal CanalDigitaal is a provider of digital television via satellite for the Netherlands, Dutch market, using the SES Astra, Astra satellites at Astra 23.5°E, 23.5° east. Initially customers were mainly Dutch citizens in the countryside who did ...

(Netherlands),

TV Vlaanderen TV Vlaanderen is a Digital data, digital satellite television and terrestrial television service provider for the Flanders region and community in Belgium. TV Vlaanderen's customers are mostly people living in Flanders. However, as TV Vlaandere ...

(Belgium), CS Link (Slovakia and Czech Republic) and Skylink (Slovakia and Czech Republic). On 1 February 2012 Kabel Deutschland left Astra 3A and during 2012 other services were transferred off the satellite. As of October 2012, Astra 3A was in an inclined orbit at 23.7° East with all services carried by the adjacent Astra 3B satellite. In November 2013, Astra 3A was moved to 176.9° West where it remained, in inclined orbit, to provide backup to SES' NSS-9 satellite. In June 2016, Astra 3A was moving east at approximately 1.5°/day and was subsequently positioned at 86.5° West. In November 2016 it started moving east at approx 0.5°/day until positioned at 47° West in mid-February 2017 alongside SES' NSS-806 satellite (replaced by SES-14 in January 2018). Towards the end of October 2019, Astra 3A started moving west at approx 0.8°/day until returned to 86.5° West in December 2019. The satellite was retired to a graveyard orbit in January 2023''Real Time Satellite Tracking And Predictions''
Accessed 25 February 2023

References

External links

SES
- Official SES site
SES fleet information
{{Orbital launches in 2002 Astra satellites Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Spacecraft launched in 2002 2002 in Luxembourg Satellites of Luxembourg Satellites using the HS-376 bus

History

See also

References

External links