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Astra 5B

Astra 5B (now called Astra 3C) is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES. It was launched as SES' 56th satellite in March 2014, to the newest of the Astra orbital positions for direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television, at 31.5° East[1] for DTH, DTT and cable use in Eastern Europe,.[2]

The satellite replaced the Astra 1G satellite at 31.5° East, which was itself filling in at that position after the loss of the Astra 5A satellite (originally called Sirius 2) in 2009,[3] Astra 2C was first used at 31.5° East to replace Astra 5A,[4] with Astra 1G positioned there in 2010.[5]

Astra 5B was the third satellite to be launched of four ordered together by SES from Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space) in 2009.[6] The similar Astra 2E and Astra 2F were launched to Astra 28.2°E before Astra 5B in 2013 and 2012, respectively, and the fourth, Astra 2G was launched later, in 2014.[7]

Market

The Astra 5B satellite provided two Ku-band broadcast beams, each of horizontal and vertical polarisation, across two footprints, called the High Power beam and the Wide beam.

Within these reception areas, Astra 5B provided capacity for direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting, direct-to-cable (DTC), and contribution feeds to digital terrestrial television networks.[2]

The satellite will also carry a hosted L-band payload for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) as EGNOS GEO-2.

  • The High Power beam provides reception on a 50 cm dish in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and the Caucasus to the Black Sea.
  • The Wide beam enables reception on a 60 cm dish over the same area and in addition, the Baltic states and much of Eastern Russia.

History

Astra 5B was ordered by SES in 2009 and built by Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space) on the Eurostar-3000 satellite bus.[6] The launch was originally scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2013,[8] but that launch was cancelled because the other satellite (Optus 10) which was due to accompany Astra 5B on the Ariane 5 launch was pulled from the manifest pending a possible sale of Optus.[9]

The launch was then planned for 6 December 2013 with Hispasat's Amazonas 4A satellite as the co-passenger,[10] but it was announced in November 2013 that the launch had been postponed until January 2014 by delays to the availability of the Amazonas craft.[11] Finally, Ariane 5 VA216 was launched on 22 March 2014.[12]

Astra 5B began commercial operation at the Astra 31.5°E position on 2 June 2014,[13] and by the end of June 2014 had 18 active transponders carrying channels for eastern Europe.[14]

In July 2023 it was reported that all broadcasts had ceased and the satellite had moved to 23.5° East alongside Astra 3B.[15][16] There, channels broadcasting on Astra 3B began to be transferred to Astra 5B (indicating a problem with Astra 3B, which still had some two years of its design life remaining) and Astra 5B was renamed Astra 3C.[17][18]

See also

  • Astra 31.5°E orbital position
  • Astra 5A previous satellite replaced
  • Astra 1G co-located satellite
  • SES satellite operator
  • Astra satellite family

External links

References

  1. SES: ASTRA 5B SATELLITE LAUNCH SUCCESS ON ARIANE 5 SES ASTRA, 23 March 2014, retrieved 27 March 2014^
  2. Astra 5B Factsheet SES, retrieved 1 November 2013^
  3. SES ASTRA Announces End Of ASTRA 5A Spacecraft Mission SES ASTRA, 16 January 2009, retrieved 31 October 2013^
  4. SES To Move ASTRA 2C Satellite To 31.5 Degrees East To Support Development Of New Orbital Position SES Astra, 10 March 2009, retrieved 31 October 2013^
  5. ASTRA 3B SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED SES Astra, 22 May 2010, retrieved 31 October 2013^
  6. SES Selects Astrium To Build Four Direct Broadcast Satellites SpaceNews 27 November 2009 Accessed 2 October 2019^
  7. ASTRA 2G SATELLITE ROARS INTO ORBIT SES, 28 November 2014, retrieved 1 January 2015^
  8. Satlaunch.Net 2013 Launch Schedule Retrieved 24 December 2011^
  9. SES's Astra 5B Launch Delayed Again as Ariane 5 Co-passenger Hispasat Calls Timeout To Tweak Satellite SpaceNews 13 November 2013 Accessed 28 November 2013^
  10. Arianespace launches VA216 and VS06 scheduled respectively for December 6 and 20 Arianespace, 29 October 2013, retrieved 28 November 2013^
  11. SES: ASTRA 5B LAUNCH DELAY DUE TO UNAVAILABILITY OF CO-PASSENGER SATELLITE SES ASTRA, 13 November 2013, retrieved 29 November 2013^
  12. Launch program activity ArianeSpace, retrieved 24 March 2014^
  13. SES: ASTRA 5B SATELLITE GOES LIVE AT 31.5 DEGREES EAST SES, 2 June 2014, retrieved 27 June 2014^
  14. Astra 5B at 31.5°E www.lungsat.com Accessed 29 June 2014^
  15. Astra 5B (31.5°E) does not broadcast channels Sat Universe. July 2023. Accessed 26 September 2023^
  16. ASTRA 5B N2YO.com. Accessed 26 September 2023^
  17. SES Fleet Map SES. Accessed 25 December 2023^
  18. Astra 5B as Astra 3C broadcasts the first programmes for Skylink (Czech) Parabola.cz 1 December 2023. Accessed 25 December 2023^