Mission type | Communications |
---|---|
Operator | SES |
COSPAR ID | 1998-050A |
SATCAT no. | 25462 |
Website | https://www.ses.com/ |
Mission duration | 15 years (planned) 26 years, 2 months, 28 days (elapsed) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Boeing 601 |
Bus | HS-601HP |
Manufacturer | Hughes Space and Communications |
Launch mass | 3,635 kg (8,014 lb) |
Power | 6 kW |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 30 August 1998, 00:31:00 UTC |
Rocket | Proton-K / DM-03 |
Launch site | Baikonur, Site 81/23 |
Contractor | Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center |
Entered service | October 1998 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit[1] |
Regime | Geostationary orbit |
Longitude | Astra 28.2°E (1998-2016) 113.5°E (2016-2018) 100°E (2018-2020) Astra 28.2°E (2020-2022) 57.2°E (2022-) |
Transponders | |
Band | 32 Ku-band |
Bandwidth | 33 MHz |
Coverage area | Europe |
Astra 2A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned by SES. Launched in 1998 into the 28.2° East orbital position, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by BSkyB, who utilised it to launch their new Sky Digital service.