SES ASTRA Orders Its Tenth Boeing Satellite

SES ASTRA of Luxembourg is continuing to expand its fleet. The company ordered its tenth Boeing satellite, ASTRA 3A, in August 2000. The spacecraft is stationed at the orbital position of 23.5 degrees East longitude. ASTRA 3A is a Boeing 376HP model, and will join 12 other spacecraft in the current SES ASTRA fleet.

The satellite provides high-power cable and direct-to-home broadband services to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. ASTRA 3A, a spin-stabilized spacecraft, operates with 20 active Ku-band transponders. The satellite was launched on March 28, 2002, aboard an Ariane 4 rocket.

Stowed (left); In Orbit (right)

ASTRA 3A will help SES ASTRA meet growing demand for digital satellite services and will provide follow-on capacity for Deutsche Telekom's Kopernikus satellite at 23.5 degrees East. ASTRA 3A has a contracted service life of at least 10 years.

SES ordered its first 376HP satellite, called ASTRA 2D, in August 1999. That satellite successfully launched December 2000 aboard an Ariane 5.

All Boeing 376 models have two telescoping cylindrical solar panels. These panels and the deployable antennas are stowed for compactness during launch. The highly reliable design makes full use of a nickel-hydrogen battery to maintain uninterrupted broadcasting during eclipses. The 376 design minimizes the number of required mechanisms and has never had a deployment failure.

The ASTRA Satellite System is Europe's leading analogue and digital satellite television broadcast system. At the end of 2000, ASTRA served approximately 86% of all European satellite and cable homes. ASTRA is owned and operated by SES ASTRA, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES GLOBAL, the world's premier satellite operator.

Boeing Satellite Development Center is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites and a major provider of space systems, satellites and payloads for national defense, science and environmental applications.

ASTRA 3A SPECIFICATIONS