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Astra 3B

Field	Value
name	Astra 3B
image_size	300px
mission_type	Communications
operator	SES S.A.
COSPAR_ID	2010-021A
SATCAT	36581
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	5472 kg
power	10 kW
launch_date	21 May 2010, 22:01 UTC
launch_rocket	Ariane 5ECA (V194)
launch_site	Centre Spatial Guyanais, ELA-3
launch_contractor	Arianespace
entered_service	June 2010
orbit_reference	Geocentric orbit
orbit_regime	Geostationary orbit
orbit_longitude	23.5° East
apsis	gee
trans_band	64 transponders:
60 Ku-band
4 Ka-band
trans_bandwidth	33 and 36 MHz
trans_coverage	Europe, Middle East
programme	Astra constellation
previous_mission	Astra 1M
next_mission	Astra 1N

(elapsed)

(now Airbus Defence and Space)

60 Ku-band 4 Ka-band

Astra 3B is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched in 2010 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital position providing digital television and radio for direct-to-home (DTH), and the AstraConnect two-way satellite broadband services across Europe and Asia.

The satellite is also used to provide the one-way Othernet internet access service to Europe that, using small lightweight receiver stations, is designed to eventually provide news, weather, educational and other media to communities with no other access to the internet.

Astra 3B was used by SES to broadcast its first demonstration Ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) (8K) television signal in May 2018.

In the summer of 2023, Astra 5B was moved from 31.5° East to co-locate with Astra 3B at 23.5°E. Subsequently, Astra 5B was renamed Astra 3C and broadcast channels on Astra 3B began to be transferred, prompting speculation that Astra 3B was reaching the end of its commercial life some two years short of the planned mission duration.

Satellite description

The satellite provides three broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation that cover three areas of the Earth's surface. The Pan-European Wide beam provides DTH reception on 60 cm dishes across Europe from Spain to the Black Sea and from Greece to Scandinavia. The European spot beam (for central and eastern Europe) and the Middle East spot beam (the Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq) provide for contribution and distribution services, and data and Internet Protocol (IP) trunking services between the two regions with Ka-band uplink and downlink used in Europe and Ku-band in the Middle East.

Launch

Astra 3B was finally launched on 21 May 2010, at 22:01 UTC, after nearly two months delay caused by technical problems to the main stage pressurization system of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, including two on-the-launch-pad postponements on 24 March 2010 and 9 April 2010.

Operations

Astra 3B became commercially operational in June 2010 to initially provide DTH broadcast services mainly to the Benelux region and Eastern Europe as well as the two-way broadband service, ASTRA2Connect across Europe and the Middle East. In January 2011, Astra announced that Bulgarian DTH operator Satellite BG would launch a package of more than 60 standard definition channels and 12 high definition channels, including sports, film, factual and children's television, and all major Bulgarian public and commercial services on 1 February 2011, using three transponders on Astra 3B to reach television homes across Bulgaria.

The deployment of Astra 3B helped to optimize the spectrum use at 23.5° East and enabled SES to release the Astra 1E and Astra 1G satellites previously at 23.5° East for use at other orbital positions.

References

"ASTRA 3B". N2YO.com.
"Satellites". SatBeams.
(14 January 2019). "User's Guide to Setting Up and Using Othernet". Shopify.
(23 May 2018). "SES Showcases its First Broadcast of 8K Television". SES.
[https://www.sat-universe.com/index.php?threads/astra-5b-31-5%C2%B0e-does-not-broadcast-channels.319215/ ''Astra 5B (31.5°E) does not broadcast channels''] Sat Universe. July 2023. Accessed 26 September 2023
[https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=39617 ''ASTRA 5B''] N2YO.com. Accessed 26 September 2023
[https://www.ses.com/sites/default/files/network_map/SES_FleetMap_RGB_10302023_Rise_Final.pdf ''SES Fleet Map''] SES. Accessed 25 December 2023
[https://www.parabola.cz/clanky/7612/astra-5b-jako-astra-3c-siri-prvni-programy-pro-skylink/ ''Astra 5B as Astra 3C broadcasts the first programmes for Skylink'' (Czech)] Parabola.cz 1 December 2023. Accessed 25 December 2023
(May 22, 2010). "ASTRA 3B SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED". SES ASTRA.
(April 14, 2010). "Quality is focus of Arianespace following Ariane 5's launch postponement". Arianespace.
(January 17, 2011). "SES ASTRA Expands in Central and Eastern Europe and Enters the Bulgarian Market". SES Astra.
(June 16, 2010). "ASTRA 3B SATELLITE NOW OPERATIONAL". SES Astra.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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