Astra 2F

Astra 2F
Mission type	Communications
Operator	SES
COSPAR ID	2012-051A
SATCAT no.	38778
Mission duration	15 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus	Eurostar E3000
Manufacturer	Astrium; (now Airbus Defence and Space)
Start of mission
Launch date	September 28, 2012, 21:18:07 UTC
Rocket	Ariane 5 ECA V209
Launch site	Kourou ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	43.5°E (2012, testing); 28.2° East (2012-)
Slot	Astra 28.2°E
Perigee altitude	35,778 kilometres (22,231 mi)
Apogee altitude	35,805 kilometres (22,248 mi)
Inclination	0.02 degrees
Period	1436.05 minutes
Epoch	22 January 2015, 22:20:58 UTC

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

Astra 2F is the first of three ‘second generation’ satellites for the 28.2°E position which replace the first generation Astra 2A, Astra 2B and Astra 2D craft previously there.^[3] The second, Astra 2E, was launched in 2013^[4] and the third, Astra 2G, was launched in 2014^[5] (launched on December 27, 2014^[6]). Some parts of the construction of Astra 2F by Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space) in Stevenage, UK could be seen in the BBC2 documentary programme, How To Build… A Satellite broadcast on November 27, 2011.

Astra 2F was successfully launched from Kourou in French Guiana on September 28, 2012.^[7] and underwent in-orbit testing at 43.5°E.^[8] Commercial operations at 28.2°E began on November 21, 2012.^[9]

Market

The Astra 28.2°E position was established in 1998 to provide digital TV, digital radio and multimedia services to the UK and Republic of 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 IPTV homes in the UK and Ireland, in particular for channels from the major UK digital satellite TV platforms, BSkyB and Freesat.^[10]

In addition, Astra 2F serves the growing DTH platforms in West Africa such as Ghana’s MultiTV.

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 20Mbit/s) along with VoIP, and 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 UK, 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 1m dish extending to North Africa, Poland and the Balkans.

The UK Spot beam provides maximum signal (40 cm dishes) over the UK, Ireland, Benelux and Northern France in close approximation of the UK Beam of Astra 2D, which it replaces.^[11] 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°E on the geostationary arc is not directly in line with the UK but offset to the east.^{[citation needed]}

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 Congo.^[12]

The Ka-band footprint for satellite broadband provides full service coverage across western Europe from the UK and France in the west to Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia and Boznia Herzegovina in the east.^[13]

Active Transponders

Below is a list of the TV channels broadcast to Europe from active transponders on Astra 2F as of September 2018^[update]:^[14]

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 5/6 (encrypted in Videoguard):

E! Ireland
E! UK
Movies 24 [also +1hr]
Motorsport TV UK (unencrypted)
S4C HD (unencrypted)
Syfy [also +1hr]
Universal TV UK [also +1hr]
Universal TV Ireland

Tp110 11.306 GHz V 27500 5/6:

Chart Show Hits
Chart Show TV
Pop [also +1hr]
Pop Max [also +1hr]
Scuzz
Sony Crime Channel [also +1hr]
Sony Crime Channel 2
Starz
The Vault
Tiny Pop [also +1hr]
True ENtertainment [also +1hr]
True TV UK [also +1hr]
True Movies [also +1hr]

Tp111 11.344 GHz H 27500 5/6 (encrypted in Videoguard):

At The Races Ireland
Box Nation
BT Sport 2, Extra 2-6
BT Sport ESPN
BT Sport mosaic
Movies4Men (unencrypted)
Paramount Network UK (unencrypted)
Psychic Today (unencrypted)

Tp112 11.344 GHz V 27500 5/6:

AMC UK (encrypted in Videoguard)
BT Sport 1 (encrypted in Videoguard)
BT Sport 3 (encrypted in Videoguard)
BT Sport Extra 1 (encrypted in Videoguard)
BT Sport Mosaic (encrypted in Videoguard)
CBS Action
CBS Drama
CBS Reality [also +1hr]
High Street TV 3
Horror Channel UK [also +1hr]
Movies4Men +1hr
S4C
YourTV

Tp31 12.304 GHz H 27500 5/6:

Box Hits
Box Upfront
Channel 4 Midlands +1hr
Channel 4 Northern Ireland +1hr
Kerrang!
Kiss TV
Magic TV
The Box UK
4Music

European Beam

Tp2 11.739 GHz V 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Dave HD
E! HD
LFC TV HD
Sky On Demand HD 3
Syfy HD
TG4 HD
Universal TV HD
Zee TV HD

Tp21 12.110 GHz H 27500 5/6 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Cartoonito
Comedy Central
Comedy Central Extra
Fox
Lifetime +1hr
Nick Jr
Sky Arts
Sky Cinema Hits
Sky Witness Ireland [also +1hr]
Sky 1 [also +1hr]
Sky Sports Action
Sky Sports Arena
Sky Sports F1
Sky Sports Main Event
Sky Sports Premier League
Virgin Media One

Tp22 12.129 GHz V 27500 2/3 DVB-S (encrypted in Videoguard):

Alibi
Dave (unencrypted)
Drama UK, Ireland (unencrypted)
Eden
GOLD UK
Good Food Channel
Home (unencrypted)
Really UK, Ireland (unencrypted)
W
Yesterday (unencrypted)

Tp23 12.148 GHz H 27500 5/6 (encrypted in Videoguard):

British Eurosport 1, 2
Fox +1hr
Nickelodeon UK [also +1hr]
Pick Ireland (unencrypted)
Sky Atlantic Ireland
Sky Atlantic UK [also +1hr]
Sky News Arabia (unencrypted)
Sky Sports Football UK
Sky Sports Golf UK
Sky Sports Main Event Ireland
Sky Sports News Ireland
Sky Sports News UK
Sky Witness UK +1hr
TCM UK

Tp24 12.168 GHz V 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard): Animal Planet Europe HD Boomerang UK HD

Sky Movies Comedy HD
Sky Movies Disney HD
Sky Movies Drama & Romance HD
Sky Movies Greats HD
Sky Movies Sci-Fi & Horror HD
TLC UK HD

Tp25 12.188 GHz H 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Discovery Channel UK HD
Fox UK HD
Sky Arts HD
Sky Atlantic UK HD
Sky Cinema Hits HD
Sky News UK HD
Sky One UK HD
Sky Sports Box Office HD
Sky Witness UK HD

Tp26 12.207 GHz V 27500 6/6 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Pick [also +1hr] (unencrypted)
Lifetime UK
MTV Beats
NickToons UK
Sky News (unencrypted)
Sky News Ireland (unencrypted)
Sky One Ireland
Sky Sports Cricket
Sky Sports Football Ireland
Sky Sports Mix
Sky Sports Premier League Ireland
Sky Two Ireland
Sky Two UK
Sky Witness UK
Together
Virgin Media Three

Tp27 12.226 GHz H 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Cartoon Network HD
Disney Channel HD
Disney Junior HD
Good Food HD
Sony Max UK HD
TCM HD
Virgin Media One HD
W UK HD

Tp28 12.246 GHz V 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Crime & Investigation HD
History HD
Nat Geo Wild HD
RTÉ One HD
RTÉ 2 HD
SET Asia HD
Sky Cinema Action & Adventure HD
Star Plus UK HD

Tp29 12.266 GHz H 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Chelsea TV HD
Lifetime UK HD
More 4 HD
Sky Sports Main Event in Pubs HD
Sky Sports News in Pubs HD
Sky Sports Premier League Ireland HD

Tp32 12.324 GHz V 29500 8/9 DVB-S2 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Sky Intro HD (unencrypted)
Sky UHD 2

Tp35 12.382 GHz H 27500 5/6 (encrypted in Videoguard):

Animal Planet Europe
Discovery Channel Ireland
Discovery Channel UK [also +1hr]
Discovery History
Discovery Home & Health UK
Discovery Science UK
Discovery Turbo UK
Investigation Discovery Ireland
Quest [also +1hr] (unencrypted)
Quest Red [also +1hr] (unencrypted)
TLC Ireland
TLC UK

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "ASTRA 2F Satellite details 2012-051A NORAD 38778". N2YO. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
^ "SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE" (Press release). SES. October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
^ Bains, Geoff. "The Good Die Young" What Satellite & Digital TV Summer 2012 pp29
^ "ASTRA 2E successfully launched" (Press release). SES. September 30, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
^ "SES Orders Four New Satellites From ASTRIUM" (Press release). SES. 30 November 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
^ "ASTRA 2G SATELLITE ROARS INTO ORBIT" (Press release). SES. November 28, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
^ "SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE" (Press release). SES. October 1, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
^ Astra 2F Testing Reception Reports, Satellites.co.uk, retrieved December 27, 2012
^ "SES' ASTRA 2F SATELLITE STARTS OPERATIONS" (Press release). SES. November 21, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
^ ASTRA 2F arrives at the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou August 23, 2012 SES blog. Accessed August 26, 2012
^ Bains, Geoff. "Flight of the Big Birds" What Satellite & Digital TV February 2012 pp29
^ Astra 2F footprints & coverages on satelaunch.net Accessed August 29, 2012
^ Bains, Geoff. "The Astra 2F Bonus" What Satellite & Digital TV June 2012 pp29
^ "Astra 2F at 28.2°E". LyngSat. Retrieved September 19, 2018.

External links

SES guide to receiving Astra satellites
SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites
OnAstra - Official consumers/viewers' site
SES - Official trade/industry site

[n2yo-1] "ASTRA 2F Satellite details 2012-051A NORAD 38778". N2YO. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.

[2] "SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE" (Press release). SES. October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2012.

[3] Bains, Geoff. "The Good Die Young" What Satellite & Digital TV Summer 2012 pp29

[4] "ASTRA 2E successfully launched" (Press release). SES. September 30, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013.

[5] "SES Orders Four New Satellites From ASTRIUM" (Press release). SES. 30 November 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2012.

[6] "ASTRA 2G SATELLITE ROARS INTO ORBIT" (Press release). SES. November 28, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2015.

[7] "SES SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES ASTRA 2F SATELLITE" (Press release). SES. October 1, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2012.

[8] Astra 2F Testing Reception Reports, Satellites.co.uk, retrieved December 27, 2012

[9] "SES' ASTRA 2F SATELLITE STARTS OPERATIONS" (Press release). SES. November 21, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2012.

[10] ASTRA 2F arrives at the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou August 23, 2012 SES blog. Accessed August 26, 2012

[11] Bains, Geoff. "Flight of the Big Birds" What Satellite & Digital TV February 2012 pp29

[12] Astra 2F footprints & coverages on satelaunch.net Accessed August 29, 2012

[13] Bains, Geoff. "The Astra 2F Bonus" What Satellite & Digital TV June 2012 pp29

[14] "Astra 2F at 28.2°E". LyngSat. Retrieved September 19, 2018.

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v t e Satellites operated by SES
SES fleet	Active: SES-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (EchoStar 105) 12 14 15 16 (GovSat-1) 17
AMC fleet	Active: AMC-4 6 8 10 11 15 16 18 21 Backups: AMC-7 Retired: AMC-1 2 3 5 9 Failed launch: AMC-14
NSS fleet	Active: NSS-6 7 9 10 11 12 806 Retired: NSS-5 513 703 K Failed launch: NSS-8
Astra fleet	Active: Astra 1KR 1L 1M 1N 2E 2F 2G 3B 4A 5B Backups: Astra 1D 1F 1G 1H 2A 2B 2C 2D 3A To be activated: Astra 1P Retired: Astra 1A 1B 1C 1E 5A Sirius 3 Failed launch: Astra 1K Orbital positions: 5.0°E 19.2°E 23.5°E 28.2°E 31.5°E Subsidiary: SES Astra
Third parties	Active: Ciel-2 MonacoSAT QuetzSat 1 Yahsat 1A

v t e ← 2011 Orbital launches in 2012 2013 →
January	Ziyuan III-01, VesselSat-2 Fengyun 2-07 USA-233 Progress M-14M
February	Navid LARES, ALMASat-1, Xatcobeo, UniCubeSat-GG, ROBUSTA, e-st@r, Goliat, MaSat-1, PW-Sat SES-4 Compass-G5 MUOS-1
March	Edoardo Amaldi ATV Intelsat 22 Kosmos 2479 Apstar 7
April	USA-234 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Progress M-15M YahSat-1B RISAT-1 Compass-M3, Compass-M4
May	USA-235 Tianhui 1B Yaogan 14, Tiantuo 1 Soyuz TMA-04M JCSAT-13, Vinasat-2 Kosmos 2480 Shizuku, Kompsat 3, SDS-4, Horyu 2 Nimiq 6 SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2, New Frontier Fajr ChinaSat 2A Yaogan 15
June	Intelsat 19 NuSTAR Shenzhou 9 USA-236 / Quasar 18 USA-237 / Orion 8
July	EchoStar XVII, MSG-3 SES-5 Soyuz TMA-05M Kounotori 3 (Raiko, We-Wish, Niwaka, TechEdSat, F-1) Kanopus-V1, BelKA-2, Zond-PP, TET-1, exactView-1 Tianlian I-03 Gonets-M No.3, Gonets-M No.4, Kosmos 2481, MiR
August	Progress M-16M (Sfera-53) Intelsat 20, HYLAS 2 Telkom-3, Ekspress-MD2 Intelsat 21 RBSP-A, RBSP-B
September	SPOT 6, PROITERES, mRESINS USA-238, SMDC-ONE 1.1, SMDC-ONE 1.2, AeroCube 4, AeroCube 4A, AeroCube 4B, Aeneas, Re, CSSWE, CP5, CXBN, CINEMA 1 MetOp-B Compass-M5, Compass-M6 Astra 2F, GSAT-10 VRSS-1
October	USA-239 SpaceX CRS-1, Orbcomm-2 David, Sif Shijian 9-01, Shijian 9-02 Intelsat 23 Soyuz TMA-06M Compass G6 Progress M-17M
November	Luch 5B, Yamal-300K Eutelsat 21B, Star One C3 Meridian 6 Huanjing 1C EchoStar XVI Yaogan 16A, Yaogan 16B, Yaogan 16C ChinaSat 12
December	Pléiades-HR 1B Eutelsat 70B Yamal-402 USA-240 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 Göktürk-2 Soyuz TMA-07M Skynet 5D, Mexsat Bicentenario
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).

Market

Broadcasting footprint

Active Transponders

See also

References

External links