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.
Astra 1E was the first Astra satellite to be dedicated to digital TV broadcasting and it carried many of the first digital TV channels from networks broadcasting to France, Germany, and other European countries in the 1990s.
The satellite originally provided two broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation, for FSS (10.70-10.95 GHz) and for BSS (11.70-12.10 GHz) frequency bands. The FSS beams provide footprints that cover essentially the same area of Europe – northern, central and eastern Europe, including Spain and northern Italy – while the BSS horizontal beam excludes Spain and extends further east, and the BSS vertical beam includes Spain and more of southern Italy but does not extend so far east.[1] Within the footprints, TV signals are usually received with a 60–80 cm dish.
In October 2007, following the successful deployment of Astra 1L at 19.2°E, Astra 1E was moved to Astra’s new DTH orbital position, 23.5°E[2] where it provided capacity for the transmission of new services including the ASTRA2Connect two-way satellite broadband Internet service which provides high speed internet access and VOIP without landline connection at up to 2 Mbit/s download speeds and 128 kbit/s upload[3] using four Ku band transponders for both forward and return paths from the user’s remote terminal.[4]
In May 2010 Astra 3B was launched to the 23.5° east position, coming into service in June 2010, at which time the services using Astra 1E were transferred to the new craft. In August 2010, Astra 1E left the 23.5° east position moving westwards, to the Astra 5°E position to provide backup for Astra 4A pending the launch of Astra 4B to that position in 2011. At 5° east, Astra 1E carries very little traffic; usually just one transponder is active with an identifying test card.[5]
See also
- Astra 3B
- Astra 4A
- SES Astra satellite owner
- ASTRA2Connect Internet service previously carried
References
- ^ "Astra 1E". SES ASTRA. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- ^ "23.5° East is a new orbital slot for Direct to Home and ASTRA2Connect / ASTRA 1E replaces ASTRA 1D" (Press release). SES ASTRA. October 10, 2007.
- ^ SES ASTRA “ASTRA2Connect Broadband and VoIP” (August, 2008). Company factsheet
- ^ "Astra 1E at 23.5°E". LyngSat. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- ^ "Astra 1E at 4.6°E". LyngSat. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
External links
- SES Astra guide to receiving Astra satellites
- SES Astra guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites
- SES Astra Website
- Astra 1E FSS Horizontal beam footprint on SatBeams
- Astra 1E FSS Vertical beam footprint on SatBeams
- Astra 1E BSS Horizontal beam footprint on SatBeams
- Astra 1E BSS Vertical beam footprint on SatBeams
- ASTRA2Connect website
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