Astra 2F arrives at European spaceport
August 21, 2012
SES has announced that the Astra 2F satellite has arrived at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, where it will now be processed for launch aboard an Ariane V rocket. The launch is scheduled for 21st September 2012. The Astra 2F satellite was designed and built for SES by EADS Astrium. It is a powerful six-ton satellite with a design lifetime of 15 years, built on the Eurostar E3000 platform.
The multi-mission satellite will be located at 28.2 degrees East and carry Ku- and Ka-band payloads for the delivery of high performance Direct-to-Home (DTH) and next generation broadband services in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
28.2 degrees East is one of SES’ prime orbital positions serving premium broadcasters, including BSkyB, the BBC, ITV and Channel 5. It delivers programming to almost 13 million satellite homes and over three million cable homes, as well as 700,000 IPTV homes in the UK and Ireland. In addition, 28.2 degrees East is used to broadcast numerous channels of growing DTH-platforms in sub-Saharan Africa.