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Astra satellite

Astra 1A
Mission type Communication
Operator SES S.A.
SES Astra
SATCAT № 19688
Mission duration 12 years (planned)
16 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Bus AS-4000
Manufacturer RCA Astro Electronics (acquired by General Electric as GE AstroSpace as part of acquisition of RCA, later sold to Martin Marietta which in turn merged with Lockheed to form Lockheed Martin Space Systems)
Launch mass 1,780 kilograms (3,920 lb)
Power 1,675 watts
Start of mission
Launch date December 11, 1988 (1988-12-11)
Rocket Ariane 4 V27
Launch site Kourou ELA-2
Contractor Arianespace
End of mission
Disposal Decommissioned
Deactivated December 2004 (2005-01)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Geosynchronous-belt graveyard orbit
Longitude 19.2° East (1989–2001)
19.4° East (2001)
5.2° East (2001–2004)
Slot Astra 1 (1989-2001)
Perigee 36,286 kilometres (22,547 mi)
Apogee 36,401 kilometres (22,619 mi)
Inclination 11.77 degrees
Period 1464.33 minutes
Epoch January 23, 2015, 14:51:52 UTC
Transponders
Band 16 Ku band
Bandwidth 26 megahertz
TWTA power 45 watts
EIRP 50 decibel-watts

Astra 1A was the first satellite launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites), launched in December 1988. During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally.

The satellite provided television coverage to Western Europe from 1989 through 2004 and was revolutionary as one of the first medium-powered satellites, allowing reception with smaller dishes than before.

Astra 1A was retired and became derelict in December 2004.

Among the channels carried in the early years after launch were the entire four channel Sky Television (later British Sky Broadcasting, after the merger with rival British Satellite Broadcasting on the Marcopolo satellite), the services consisted of Sky One/Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies and Eurosport, the Scandinavian TV3 and TV1000, the German Pro7, Sat.1, RTL plus, 3sat and Teleclub, the Dutch RTL4 as well as FilmNet, Screensport, MTV Europe, The Children's Channel and Lifestyle.


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