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SES’ ASTRA 1P satellite blasts off from Florida

The satellite, which is due to begin operations in 2025, will operate at SES's prime TV neighbourhood at 19.2 degrees East to deliver content for public and private broadcasters, sports organisations and content owners in Europe

After delays due to bad weather, SES’ ASTRA 1P has successfully launched via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Ku-band satellite will be deployed at SES’s prime TV neighbourhood at 19.2 degrees East to deliver content for public and private broadcasters, sports organisations and content owners in Europe.

The satellite will also ensure the delivery of premium HD content directly to subscribers of HD+, SES’s high-definition satellite TV platform in Germany.

ASTRA 1P is based on the 100 per cent electric Spacebus NEO platform and features 80 transponders capable of delivering 500 HD TV channels. According to SES, it is the most powerful satellite to operate at 19.2 degrees East, replacing the current four satellites at the orbital location.

ASTRA 1P encapulsation

“The ASTRA 1P is the third generation of satellites at 19.2 degrees East,” Steve Bisenius, director of SES ASTRA, tells TVBEurope.

“The first generation was operational from the very early days in 1989 and lasted around 15 years. It was replaced by the second fleet that we currently operate and around the end of this decade it will reach the end of its lifecycle.”

Built by Thales Alenia Space at their facility in Cannes, France the satellite took around three-and-a-half years to complete. On each of its satellites, SES begins by ensuring it understands the market it wants to address, says Bisenius.

“Then you ask, what is the technical solution? What should the satellite look like? That roughly takes us six months to a year. In this particular case with 19.2 we’ve been building the satellite for about 30 months, which is a rather short time frame. We worked very closely with Thales to get this satellite built in that period, because it’s a very large satellite with a lot of transmission capabilities.”

Described by Bisenius as a “classical satellite”, ASTRA 1P has around 80 transponders which he says is a first for SES.

The satellite will be operational in early 2025. Following the launch, it will detach from the rocket and then travel 36,000 kilometres to reach geostationary orbit, which is done with electric propulsion.

“That will take about six months,” explains Bisenius. “We follow that with the full deployment of the satellite, the full solar arrays, the antennas, and we’ll go through extensive performance testing and functionality testing of the satellite through to the end of 2024, beginning of 2025, That’s the time where we expect to be ready to bring the satellite into service.”