Astras 1P & 1Q ordered for 2024 launch

Analoguesat

Analoguesat

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Press release:

Luxembourg, 18 November 2021 – SES announced today it has ordered two geostationary (GEO) Ku-band satellites for its prime orbital slot at 19.2 degrees East to maintain the premium services it provides to its European video customers and to capture new opportunities in the region. These two replacement satellites – ASTRA 1P and ASTRA 1Q – will be built by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) and are expected to launch in 2024.


ASTRA 1P, a classic wide-beam satellite, will support SES’s prime TV neighbourhood and enable content owners, private and public broadcasters across Germany, France and Spain to continue broadcasting satellite TV channels in the highest-picture quality in the most cost-efficient manner.

ASTRA 1Q, a next-generation digital satellite with both wide beams and high-throughput spot beams, will be able to support direct-to-home (DTH) operations like ASTRA 1P. In addition, the fully flexible ASTRA 1Q is customisable on orbit and can be deployed easily to other orbital positions, enabling SES to serve the dynamic needs of its video and data customers well into the future.


Full story


www.ses.com

SES Orders Two State-of-the-Art Satellites for its Prime TV Neighbourhood Serving 118 Million Homes | SES

We provide reliable and secure satellite and ground communications solutions. We push for breakthroughs in connectivity and their impact for people worldwide.
www.ses.com www.ses.com
 
Last time they tried spot beams at 19E (November 2002 - Astra 1K) the satellite ended up swimming with the fishies after (yet another) botched Proton launch
 
Analoguesat said:
Last time they tried spot beams at 19E (November 2002 - Astra 1K) the satellite ended up swimming with the fishies after (yet another) botched Proton launch
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There is a spot beam on Astra 1KR that is centred Poland, but I don't think it was ever brought into full service.

Although they don't publicise it now, Astra 1N also has a spot beam - it was operational when the satellite was temporarily in place at 28E prior to the launch of 2E & 2F there, with the spot beam focused on the UK & Ireland, before moving on to 19E and freeing up Astra 2C in that position. From what I can recall of the 1N spot beam whilst it was at 28E, it seemed to be shaped to provide coverage of the Iberian peninsula & Canary Islands, but Canal + and later Movistar have never used it AFAIK.

As it is, I wonder if 1P & 1Q might be the last Astra satellites at 19E to operate in the way we know it?
 
Wasnt the 1N beam just slewed north whilst it was in service at 28E to reduce coverage in Europe? Its 10 years ago now so things are hazy. It certainly wasnt a tight spot like we are used to nowadays.

Fisty McB said:
As it is, I wonder if 1P & 1Q might be the last Astra satellites at 19E to operate in the way we know it?
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Id be inclined to agree with you there - assuming a nominal 15 year lifespan that would take service to around 2040. Id say by then satellite tv delivery will rapidly be becoming an anachronism, almost everything will be delivered by fibre. Or some advanced radio communicayion - 9G maybe?!.
 
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i think the problem coutery spain and portugal very far of footprint need large dish to get canal plus spain
i think replace 1kr,1l maybe also 1m
they spoke tnt,canalsat,sky germany,canal plus nl,orf austria
same old news 1n move 400km from origianl beam ses not public yet footprint
 
Analoguesat said:
Wasnt the 1N beam just slewed north whilst it was in service at 28E to reduce coverage in Europe? Its 10 years ago now so things are hazy. It certainly wasnt a tight spot like we are used to nowadays.
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This is the apparent 1N spot beam from a quick internet search I found...

astra1n_uk1.webp

...as I suggested earlier, the additional lobe to the south-west would appear to be an "extension" for coverage to the Canary Islands presuming the centre of the spot was over Iberia. For the remainder of the Astra fleet at 19E the pan-European beams tend to have the Canaries within a 46db contour, which would also apply to this spot beam here. For the time 1N was at 28E, this south-western "sidelobe" would have had the side effect of providing reasonably strong coverage of the then "UK/Ireland spot beam" into Portugal and much of northern & western Spain as a consequence. Alas for those able to take decent advantage of this, it was never going to last.

(Image source - Astra 1N Satellite Signal Footprint Map - The Sat and TV Guy - UK TV in Spain )
 
Yeah that lobe waas for the Spanish services to cover the Canaries - if you slew the beam south so its centred over France & rotate it a bit it would fit perfectly over the Atlantic islands.
 
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