Astra 1N

Astra 1N

COSPAR ID	2011-041A
SATCAT №	37775
Mission duration	15 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus	Eurostar E3000
Manufacturer	Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space)
Launch mass	5,300 kilograms (11,700 lb)
Power	13,074 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	August 6, 2011 (2011-08-06)
Rocket	Ariane 5 ECA VA203
Launch site	Kourou ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	19.2°East
Slot	Astra 19.2°E
Perigee	35,785 kilometres (22,236 mi)
Apogee	35,800 kilometres (22,200 mi)
Inclination	0.04 degrees
Period	1436.09 minutes
Epoch	24 January 2015, 23:20:03 UTC
Transponders
Band	104 Ku band
Bandwidth	26/33 megahertz
EIRP	54 decibel-watts

Astra 1N is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES and is positioned at the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot. It was launched in 2011 and is the fourth satellite to be built for Astra by Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space) and the 46th SES satellite in orbit, and entered commercial service at 28.2°E on 24 October 2011.

The satellite was originally designed to provide digital television and radio broadcast services across Europe from the Astra 19.2°E position, in particular the German, French and Spanish markets, alongside the Astra 1KR, Astra 1L, and Astra 1M satellites already operating there. At launch, Astra 1N was instead temporarily positioned at 28.2°E to replace Astra 2D and provide capacity for the UK and Ireland, including the Sky and Freesat DTH platforms, prior to the launch of Astra 2E and Astra 2F to this position in 2013 and 2012, respectively. All traffic on Astra 2D was transferred to Astra 1N in early 2012 (as of February 2014, Astra 2D remains at 28.2°E but is inactive).

On September 28, 2012 Astra 2F was successfully launched from Kourou in French Guiana. After in-orbit testing at 43.5°E, the satellite began commercial operations at 28.2°E on November 21, 2012. and some services were transferred from Astra 1N to Astra 2F. Astra 2E was launched to the Astra 28.2°E position from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on September 30, 2013 following a 10-week delay caused by the catastrophic failure of a previous launch. After in-orbit testing at 43.5°E it began commercial operations at 28.2°E in February 2014. and the remaining channels on Astra 1N were transferred to Astra 2E. Astra 1N was then relocated to its design position at 19.2°E.

Broadcasting footprint

The Astra 1N satellite provides three broadcast beams, each with horizontal and vertical polarisation, across three footprints. The UK spot beam covers the UK and Ireland with reception on dishes of 45 cm diameter across the whole of the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands with the exception of the extreme north east of Scotland, where a 60 cm dish is required.

The Pan-European Beam 1 provides reception on a 60 cm dish across Western and Central Europe including Sardinia in the south but excluding Finland in the North. Pan-European Beam 2 provides 60 cm dish reception over substantially the same area reaching further north into Scandinavia and east as far as the Baltic States, Russia and the Black Sea but excluding more of the Iberian peninsula, Italy and the Mediterranean.

See also

• Astra 1KR co-located satellite
• Astra 1L co-located satellite
• Astra 1M co-located satellite
• Astra 2C co-located satellite
• Astra 19.2°E orbital position
• Astra 28.2°E previous orbital position
• SES satellite operator
• Astra satellite family

External links

• SES guide to receiving Astra satellites
• SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites
• OnAstra - Official consumers/viewers' site
• SES - Official trade/industry site
• SES page for Astra 1N
• IMS Official provider's site