Controversial SES Astra 2F satellite starts operations
November 21, 2012
SES has announced that the Astra 2F satellite has successfully completed its in-orbit testing and is now fully operational and in commercial service at the orbital neighborhood of 28.2/28.5 degrees East. The 52nd SES satellite was successfully launched board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on September 28, 2012.
The multi-mission satellite carries Ku-band and Ka-band payloads for the delivery of high-performance DTH and next generation broadband services in Europe and Africa. Of the spacecraft’s payload, 48 Ku-band transponders cover Europe and 12 Ku-band transponders are dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa, while 3 Ka-band transponders will allow SES Broadband Services to support download speeds of up to 20 Mbps.
Eutelsat and SES Astra are arguing over 500 MHz of satellite capacity at the 28.5 degrees East position. Eutelsat has filed a request for arbitration against SES with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce.
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