Astra 1N to slot at 28E in Q2 2011

[saadi]

ASTRA: We will publish details of the satellite's footprint once ASTRA 1N has been launched in the second quarter of this year. This is due to commercial reasons. Hope you understand and can still wait some time. Kirstin

Can someone guess what kind commercial reasons? Or is it also Top-Secret? ;)

 

[Analoguesat]

More like its in case they lose Astra 1N during launch.

The Astra 1K ones were published long before she took a dive into the Pacific. They were removed very rapidly after she got stranded in the wrong orbit, but fortunately I had grabbed them all by then - & they are available here in the footprint archive

 

[xenon]

Today i have just recived email from:

It is correct that 1N has an interim mission on 28.2 before it goes to 19.2.

Best regards
Markus Payer

 

[deepbluesky]

Any word of how long 1N will stay at 28.2E ? Up to the launch of 2F ? And what about 2C ? Will it stay forever at 31.5E ? Wasn't it supposed to move to 28.2E ?

 

[Analoguesat]

My personal guess is that 1N will operate at 28E until 2F is commissioned and operational in early 2013.


2C is now operating at the new Turkish hotspot at 31.3E. There wasnt sufficient work for her at 28E - last time she was "home" no more than a couple of tp's were ever activated, and as 2C only has widebeam coverage there wasnt a chance of getting fta channels on her

 

[deepbluesky]

Well we all can just guess. What i've meant was if SES Astra has made any statement. Seems that once again it's top secret..
For 2C, are you sure it's beeing used right now ? For me just 1G looks active based on several frequency listings and boards and 2C is waiting in case of 1G transponder failing.

 

[Analoguesat]

There is no chance of 2C being redeployed to 28E now.

1N will operate any required frequencies in the currently unused "2C band"

 

[dvdfilm]

any possibility of a delay for the launch of Astra 1N?
because the current Ariane5 mission is being postponed after a bit of a failure on launch day,when the computer security checks prevented the launcher from starting the main booster stage

 

[Analoguesat]

Depends what the fault is on the launcher & if the next flight needs attention as well.

 

[dvdfilm]

clearly they have some concerns as the mission is still on hold

 

[Gunes]

Astra 1N predicted launch date is 29 June according to _http://satlaunch.blogspot.com/2011/04/astra-1n-bsat-3cjcsat-110r-launch-date.html

 

[T1154]

Try your MEP . I thought the EU declared an Open Sky's policy to be followed by all European Broadcasters,years ago. Honoured in the breach like so many other EU issues I guess

 

[saadi]

Some technical info about 1N regarding footprint technology:

There is no possibility to change the footprints shape on ASTRA1N. Have a good weekend. Christopher.

I read somewhere a post, that claimed that SES is now able to do this with 1N. So this information was wrong.

PS:

ASTRA 2C will be deployed at 19.2 degrees East. Chinasat 5C arriving at 1.5E is not linked to SES. ASTRA1D is in inclined orbit and is no longer serving a commercial mission. It was a long trip. Kind regards. Christopher.

 

[dvdfilm]

news from SES Astra:

ASTRA 1N ARRIVES IN KOUROU FOR LAUNCH ONBOARD ARIANE 5

Satellite to provide Direct-to-Home television across Europe Luxembourg, 19 May 2011 - SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) today announced that the ASTRA 1N satellite designed and manufactured by Astrium for SES has arrived at the European space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, in preparation for its launch by an Ariane 5 vehicle early July 2011.
ASTRA 1N will deliver direct-to-home (DTH) services, notably digital and high definition (HD) television with pan-European coverage, and is planned to mainly serve the German, French and Spanish markets. The satellite will first provide interim capacity at 28.2° East, and will subsequently be moved to19.2° East, its final orbital position.
As prime contractor for ASTRA 1N, Astrium has supplied both the payload and the Eurostar E3000 platform for this satellite equipped with 62 transponders in the Ku frequency band. ASTRA 1N will have a launch mass of 5,350 kg and a spacecraft power of 13 kW at the end of its 15-year design life. Launch and Early Orbit Phase operations will be conducted from the Astrium spacecraft control centre in Toulouse, France.
ASTRA 1N will be the fourth Eurostar satellite in the ASTRA fleet following the successful launch of ASTRA 3B in May 2010. Astrium's Eurostar series has accumulated nearly 400 years of successful in-orbit operations.

looks like there is a slight delay from the original launch date

 

[Gunes]

Launch window: 21:43-23:06 GMT on 1 July

Source: _http://satlaunch.blogspot.com/2011/06/astra-1n-bsat-3cjcsat-110r-launch.html

 

[T1154]

You will not change the launch and deployment programs for Satellites whose purpose is to make money for their owners by selling their capacity to shape and plant their E/M footprints on the Earths surface ,in a manner that satifies the Broadcasting users of that capability.In turn the Broadcasters must satisfy their Program suppliers ,in so far as current technology permits, in regard to the requirement to restrict reception of their broadcasts to coverage of those areas for which they have the contracted authority to provide cover. Inside those areas the Broadcasters extend the right to receive, in many cases only to those who pay to view their broadcasts. Consequently for those who seek to receive such 'pay to view' broadcasts the conditions of their contract with broadcaster are broken if they use their Card outside the contracted area. And at the same time the broadcaster has breached the terms of his contract by permitting them to do so . They only break the law if they have no Contract with the Broadcaster and no Card. I.e. if Pirate techniques are employed to enable reception.
In the case of 'Free to air' broadcasts the law is not broken by their reception by anyone who has the capacity to do so.
However the broadcaster may be in breach of contract with his program suppliers, by allowing them to be capable of being received outside his contracted coverage area ! The Broadcaster may plead the technical impossibility of complying, but he needs to be seen to be making the attempt., Herein lies the BBC's dilemma and the reason why the attempt to restrict coverage increases with every new satellite launched.
In certain Countries the government itself retricts broadcasts outside the country concernd .Even the ability to receve outside broadcasts in some cases.
The European Union promotes an 'open skies' policy which should mean that everyone who lives in the Union should be permitted to receive the broadcasts of any other member country [provide that it is technically possible], and provided that he has a valid contract with the the Broadcaster, where a viewing Card is required .In most cases the policy is not honoured.

So.You may try political protest at the increasing restrictions on overseas reception with I think little chance of success .
What is left is technical ingenuity. In a world where reception of radio signals from a man made source located in deep Space is now possible , I'm sure that LNB's with much greater sensitivity can now be made. t1154

 

[saadi]

1N Footprint Published:

_http://www.ses-astra.com/business/en/extranet/blog-astra-1n/index.php

 

[dvdfilm]

1N Footprint Published:

_http://www.ses-astra.com/business/en/extranet/blog-astra-1n/index.php

it doesn't as seem as good as the previous map for fringe area reception,seems quite unlikely to pick up signal from Spain.
this might really be the beginning of the end for spain reception,when all the new fleet will be in place

 

[BLUEPLATINUM]

The footprint shown on the new map covers the whole area shown at 54 ERP on the original map. 54 ERP maps to a dish size of 45 cm. The new map shows the outer part of this area as needing a 60 cm dish. It may be they are just being conservative with their estimates as not all dishes/LNBs have the same characteristics. It is also not surprising that only the coverage over the UK is shown for PR reasons.

 

[Huevos]

this might really be the beginning of the end

I doubt it but we'll have to wait and see. Where in Spain are you? Currently, with 2D, the majority of Spain is possible on a 1.2m dish with the exception of the null that runs across Alicante province where bigger dishes are required. That means the majority of people in this region are already geared up with big dishes which should be plenty. After all we are only 1.5º off the dead centre of the projected beam here and 1n is a much higher power satellite than 2D (105 watts, rather than 39 watts per transponder). Probably the biggest shock will be to the people in the south who currently only have a 1.2m dish.

European spot beams I can't/couldn't get on my 1.5m dish are/were Astra 1 Polish spot (now switched off) 3.2º off target; Astra 3A German spot (35W Boeing spinner) 2.6º off target; Thor 6 K1 spot, 3.4º off target, which are all much further off than the 1.5º of the projected footprint of Astra 1n.