Astra 3B [EADS AStrium]
SES Astra, an SES Global company, has announced in November 2006 that it has awarded the contract for the construction of its new satellite, Astra 3B, to the European satellite manufacturer Astrium. As prime contractor for Astra 3B, ASTRIUM will design and build the satellite.
Astra 3B will be a state-of-the-art Ku and Ka-band spacecraft designed for the distribution of both direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services and two-way broadband services across Europe. After Astra 2B and Astra 1M, Astra 3B is the third Astra satellite to be built by ASTRIUM. The satellite will have 52 Ku-band transponders of which 20 transponders are to replace existing in-orbit capacity and 32 transponders which will create new capacity, thereby strenghtening 23.5E as the third orbital hotspot for European DTH services. Additionally there will be and 4 Ka-band transponders. Astra 3B is expected to be launched end of 2009.
Astra 3B will be built on a Eurostar-3000 platform, the latest version of the highly successful Eurostar series.
Nation: | Luxembourg |
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Type / Application: | Communication (Direct Broadcasting) |
Operator: | SES-Astra |
Contractors: | EADS Astrium |
Equipment: | 52 transponders Ku-Band and 4 Ka-Band transponders |
Configuration: | Eurostar-3000 |
Propulsion: | |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 15 years |
Mass: | 5472 kg |
Orbit: | GEO |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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Astra 3B | 2010-021A | 21.05.2010 | Ko ELA-3 | Ariane-5ECA | with COMSATBw 2 |