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Astra 2F

Communications satellite

Field	Value
name	Astra 2F
names_list	Eutelsat 28F
image_size	300px
mission_type	Communications
operator	SES S.A.
COSPAR_ID	2012-051A
SATCAT	38778
website	https://www.ses.com/
mission_duration	15 years (planned)
(elapsed)
spacecraft_type	Eurostar
spacecraft_bus	Eurostar-3000
manufacturer	Astrium
(now Airbus Defence and Space)
launch_mass	5968 kg
launch_date	28 September 2012,
21:18:07 UTC
launch_rocket	Ariane 5ECA (VA209)
launch_site	Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-3
launch_contractor	Arianespace
entered_service	21 November 2012
orbit_reference	Geocentric orbit
orbit_regime	Geostationary orbit
orbit_longitude	28.2° East
apsis	gee
trans_band	63 transponders:
60 Ku-band
3 Ka-band
trans_coverage	Europe
programme	Astra constellation
previous_mission	Astra 4B
next_mission	Astra 2E

(elapsed)

(now Airbus Defence and Space)

21:18:07 UTC

60 Ku-band 3 Ka-band

Astra 2F is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched in September 2012 to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position. The satellite provides free-to-air and encrypted direct-to-home (DTH) digital television and satellite broadband services for Europe and Africa.

Astra 2F is the first of three "second generation" satellites for the 28.2° East position which replace the first generation Astra 2A, Astra 2B and Astra 2D satellites previously positioned there. The second, Astra 2E, was launched in 2013 and the third, Astra 2G, was launched in 2014. Some parts of the construction of Astra 2F by Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space) in Stevenage, United Kingdom could be seen in the BBC2 documentary programme, How To Build... A Satellite broadcast on 27 November 2011.

Astra 2F was successfully launched from Kourou in French Guiana on 28 September 2012, at 21:18:07 UTC by an Ariane 5ECA launch vehicle from Centre Spatial Guyanais. and underwent in-orbit testing at 43.5° East. Commercial operations at 28.2° East began on 21 November 2012.

Market

The Astra 28.2° East orbital position was established in 1998 to provide digital television, digital radio and multimedia services to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Astra 2F's primary mission is to continue this provision as replacement and follow-on capacity to the Astra 2A, Astra 2B, Astra 2D and Astra 1N satellites, delivering programming to almost 13 million satellite homes, over 3 million cable homes, and 700,000 Internet Protocol television (IPTV) homes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, in particular for channels from the major UK digital satellite television satellite bus, BSkyB and Freesat.

In addition, Astra 2F serves the growing direct-to-home (DTH) platforms in West Africa such as Multi TV of Ghana.

Astra 2F is also designed to provide SES Broadband’s first commercial Ka-band satellite broadband service in Europe, with a Ka-band payload delivering high-speed Internet access (at download speeds up to 20 Mbit/s) along with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) from November 2012.

Broadcasting footprint

Astra 2F has three Ku-band downlink beams covering Europe and Africa. The Europe Beam is centred on the English Channel with maximum signal (for reception on a 40 cm dish) over the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Benelux, and parts of Germany, Austria, and Spain (including a "lobe" specifically designed to serve the Canary Islands which officially requires a 120 cm dish but in practise is easily receivable using a 90 cm dish as with Astra 2E), and reception on a 1 m dish extending to North Africa, Poland and the Balkans.

The UK Beam provides maximum signal (40 cm dishes) over the United Kingdom, Ireland, Benelux and Northern France in close approximation of the UK Beam of Astra 2D, which it replaces. Due to the tight footprint, some reception issues for UK channels are being reported in Spain as of December 2012. Early reports of test transmissions on 11.023 GHz H 23000 DVB-S2 suggest the beam is very tight with a very sharp fall off to the west and east of the footprint, but eastern Spain seems to be getting a higher signal strength possibly due to the off-axis beam as 28.2° East on the geostationary arc is not directly in line with the United Kingdom but offset to the east.

The West Africa beam provides for reception with 60 cm dishes across southern West Africa from Senegal to Nigeria, with a lower signal level (80 cm dishes) extending across the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Ka-band footprint for satellite broadband provides full service coverage across western Europe from the United Kingdom and France in the west to the Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the east.

Active transponders

Below is a list of the TV channels broadcast to Europe from active transponders on Astra 2F : In the list, channels broadcast with a one-hour delay are shown Channel +1hr. Where both the original and the delayed channel are broadcast from the same transponder, this is shown in one entry as Channel [also +1hr].

UK Beam

Tp109 11.306 GHz H 27500 2/3:

5 Action
5 Select
5 Star [also +1hr]
5 USA [also +1hr]
Channel 5 [also +1hr]
Channel 5 HD
Nick Jr Too UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Nickelodeon UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)

Tp110 11.306 GHz V 27500 5/6:

Great! Action [also +1hr]
Great! Movies Ireland
Great! Movies UK [also +1hr]
Great! Romance UK [also +1hr]
Great! TV Ireland
Great! TV UK [also +1hr]
Pop [also +1hr]
Tiny Pop [also +1hr]

Tp111 11.344 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2:

ITV 1 Anglia West HD
ITV 1 Border Scotland HD
ITV 1 Central East HD
ITV 1 Meridian East HD
ITV 1 Meridian South Coast HD
ITV 1 Meridian Thames Valley HD
ITV 1 Yorkshire West HD
ITV 3 HD

Tp112 11.344 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2:

ITV 1 Central West +1hr
ITV 1 Granada +1hr
ITV 1 London +1hr
ITV 1 Meridian East +1hr
ITV 2 +1hr
ITV 3 +1hr
ITV 4 +1hr
Legend
Legend Xtra [also +1hr]
PBS America
STV East
STV Tayside
Talking Pictures TV
That's Melody
That's Oldies
That's TV UK
That's TV2
That's TV3
True Crime Ireland
True Crime UK [also +1hr]
True Crime Xtra Ireland
True Crime Xtra UK

European Beam

Tp21 12.110 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Sky Comedy UK HD
Sky Crime UK HD
Sky News Ireland HD
Sky Sports Action HD
Sky Sports Cricket HD
Sky Sports F1 HD
Sky Sports Mix HD
Sky Sports News Ireland HD
STV Tayside HD

Tp22 12.129 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2:

U&Alibi Ireland (encrypted in VideoGuard)
U&Alibi Ireland HD (encrypted in VideoGuard)
U&Alibi UK [also +1hr] (encrypted in VideoGuard)
U&Gold Ireland (encrypted in VideoGuard)
U&Gold UK [also +1hr] (encrypted in VideoGuard)
U&Dave Ireland
U&Dave Ireland HD (encrypted in VideoGuard
U&Dave UK
U&DaveJaVu
U&Drama Ireland
U&Drama UK [also +1hr]
U&Eden [also +1hr]
U&W Ireland
U&W UK [also +1hr]
U&Yesterday [also +1hr]

Tp23 12.148 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Baby TV Europe
Challenge UK (unencrypted)
Colors Gujarati
Movies 24
Movies 24+
National Geographic Wild UK
Oireachtas TV
RTÉ 2 +1hr
RTÉ One +1hr
RTÉ Jr
RTÉ News
Sky Arts Ireland (unencrypted)
Sky Arts UK (unencrypted)
Sky Comedy UK
Sky Crime Ireland
Sky Documentaries Ireland
Sky Documentaries UK
Sky Nature Ireland
Sky Nature UK
Sky Replay Ireland
Sky Replay UK
Sky Sci-Fi
Sky Showcase UK +1hr
Sky Witness UK
Together TV (unencrypted)
Virgin Media One +1hr
Virgin Media Three

Tp24 12.168 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2:

BBC One South HD
Boomerang UK HD (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Cartoon Network UK HD (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Channel 4 Midlands HD
Channel 4 North HD
CNBC UK HD
Sky Mix Ireland HD
Sky Mix UK HD
Sky Witness Ireland HD (encrypted in VideoGuard)
STV North HD

Tp25 12.188 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

LFC TV HD
Premier Sports 1 HD
Premier Sports 2 HD
Sky Arts UK HD
Sky Atlantic UK HD
Sky Max UK HD
Sky Sports Racing HD
Sky Sports Tennis UK HD
Sky Witness UK HD

Tp26 12.207 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Sky Sports Main Event UK 4K
TNT Sport Ultimate 4K

Tp27 12.226 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Channel 4 Northern Ireland HD (unencrypted)
E4 UK HD
National Geographic UK HD
National Geographic Wild UK HD
RTÉ One HD
SET Asia HD
Sky Mix UK HD (unencrypted)
Utsav Plus HD

Tp28 12.246 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Sky UHD 1 4K
Sky UHD 2 4K

Tp29 12.266 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Discovery Channel UK HD
Film 4 UK HD
More 4 UK HD
MUTV HD
Sky Sports Main Event in Pubs HD
Sky Sports News in Pubs HD
Sky Sports Premier League UK HD
STV North HD
U&Dave UK HD

Tp30 12.285 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Sky Cinema Action HD
Sky Cinema Animation HD
Sky Cinema Comedy HD
Sky Cinema Drama HD
Sky Cinema Family HD
Sky Cinema Greats HD
Sky Cinema Hits HD
Sky Cinema Premiere HD
Sky Cinema Sci-fi Horror HD
Sky Cinema Select HD
Sky Cinema Thriller HD

Tp32 12.324 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 (encrypted in VideoGuard):

Sky Intro HD (unencrypted)
Sky Sports F1 HD
Sony Max UK HD

Tp35 12.382 GHz H 29500 2/3 DVB-S2:

Animal Planet UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Discovery Channel UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Discovery History (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Discovery Science UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)
Discovery Turbo UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)
DMAX UK [also +1hr]
Food Network UK [also +1hr]
HGTV UK
Really UK
Quest Ireland HD
Quest UK HD
Quest UK [also +1hr]
Quest Red [also +1hr]
TLC UK (encrypted in VideoGuard)

References

"ASTRA 2F". N2YO.com.
(October 1, 2012). "SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE". SES.
(30 November 2009). "SES Orders Four New Satellites From ASTRIUM". SES.
Bains, Geoff "The Good Die Young" ''What Satellite & Digital TV'' Summer 2012 pp.29
(September 30, 2013). "ASTRA 2E successfully launched". SES.
(November 28, 2014). "Astra 2G Satellite Roars Into Orbit". SES.
(1 October 2012). "SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE". SES.
"Astra 2F Testing Reception Reports". Satellites.co.uk.
(21 November 2012). "SES' ASTRA 2F SATELLITE STARTS OPERATIONS". SES.
[http://www.ses.com/12427176/2012-08-23-ASTRA-2F-arrives-at-the-Guiana-Space-Centre ''ASTRA 2F arrives at the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou''] 23 August 2012 SES blog Accessed 26 August 2012
Bains, Geoff. "Flight of the Big Birds" ''What Satellite & Digital TV'' February 2012 pp.29
(10 January 2014). "Astra 2 at 28° East, Satellite changes at 28.2° East".
[http://www.satlaunch.net/2012/03/update-astra-2f-footprints-coverages.html ''Astra 2F footprints & coverages'' on satelaunch.net] Accessed 29 August 2012
Bains, Geoff "The Astra 2F Bonus" ''What Satellite & Digital TV'' June 2012 pp.29
"Astra 2F at 28.2°E". LyngSat.
"Sky UK on Astra 2E/2F/2G at 28.5°E". LyngSat.

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