SES Astra, has announced today the start of a new orbital position at 31.5 degrees East. The new position will allow SES ASTRA to operate satellite services at up to 40 new broadcasting frequencies (BSS) and strongly support the development of the Eastern European and Middle East markets. The satellite Sirius 2, which is part of the SES fleet and is renamed ASTRA 5A, has been moved from 5 degrees East to the new position and will allow the commercialization of up to 26 transponders in a first step.
The move of Sirius 2 has been made possible by the successful launch of the new Sirius 4 satellite at the end of last year. The African beam that Sirius 4 carries is now commercialized under the name Astra 4A.
With the new position, SES Astra and SES Sirius operate five orbital positions with their fleet of now 13 Astra and 2 Sirius satellites: the prime orbital position 19.2 degrees East, serving the Direct-to-Home (DTH) markets in Western Europe, especially Germany, France and Spain, 28.2 degrees East, which focuses on the UK and Irish markets, 5 degrees East, for the Sirius satellites, serving the Northern and Eastern European countries, 23.5 degrees East, which is developing into a second important DTH position, especially for Benelux and Central European countries, and the new position at 31.5 degrees East.
“The start of the new orbital position adds significant growth possibilities to our business and allows us to continue our strategy of a successful expansion”, said Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES Astra. “It enlarges our offer to customers especially in the dynamic Eastern European markets and will represent an important growth driver for SES Astra and SES Sirius and their customers. It will also give us more flexibility on our orbital positions 23.5 and 5 degrees East in order to continue to develop them into strong DTH positions.”
(Source: SES Astra)
on Apr 29th, 2008 at 16:28
Its 31.5 east, not 315 east
Looking forward to SES issuing its forst tender for the next generation of birds for the UK/RoI hot spot (28.2/28.5 east).
Then we’ll see, then we’ll see …
on Apr 29th, 2008 at 16:32
Thanks for spotting that, Ray. I was just trying to grab peoples’ attention
on Apr 30th, 2008 at 10:41
Why do we need more orbital positions for the Astra system? anyway I think Astra system as it is at its 19.2degE/28.2degE should be expanded to become pan european to compete with Hotbird 8 with a massive satellite footprint from the UK right down to the middle east and from the Canary Islands right up to russia and from the roof on Northern Scandinavia down to the Med and holiday islands;this would be a truly pan-european service and allow everyone across Europe and beyond to tune in to the Astra system.
on Apr 30th, 2008 at 15:58
Well, most likely ASTRA needs more orbital positions due to the fact that all available down and most likely all up-link frequencies are used at present locations. Normal Ku band up link is only 750 MHz wide and down link is 2 GHz.
on May 1st, 2008 at 06:45
No they’re using different satellite positions to cover different markets/regions of Europe;
19.2degE for Western Europe,
28.2degE for UK and Ireland,
5degE for Northern & Eastern Europe,
23.5degE for Benelex & Central Europe,
and this new 31.5degE position for Eastern Europe and Middle East.
Would it be easier and more logical and less cost for SES Astra to have a single orbital position from the outset with a massive pan-european beam that reaches right across borders covering the whole of Europe and beyond from the Canary Isles off the southwest of spain going northeastwards to russia,from france to Rumania/Ukraine/Bulgaria and all along that way and from the United Kingdom in the northwest right down southeastwards to Greece/Cyprus/Turkey/Eurasia(the bits between Turkey and the middle east) including the middle east coast and from all along the med to the roof of northern scandinavia and surrounding areas? That way can easily cover all the markets you wish from one orbital position and just use one fixed dish antennae for everything without the need for expensive motorised satellite systems to pick it all up.
on May 1st, 2008 at 10:20
As far as I know The new position announced by SES belongs to Turksat. interesting Did SES buy or hire this position from Turksat? Or something else?