Astra 2G

Astra 2G
Names	Eutelsat 28G
Mission type	Communications
Operator	SES
COSPAR ID	2014-089A
SATCATno.	40364
Website	https:// ses /
Mission duration	15 years (planned); 9 years, 6 months, 15 days (elapsed)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Eurostar
Bus	Eurostar-3000
Manufacturer	Astrium; (nowAirbus Defence and Space)
Launch mass	6,020 kg (13,270 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	27 December 2014, 21:37:49UTC
Rocket	Proton-M/Briz-M
Launch site	Baikonur,Site 200/39
Contractor	Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Entered service	June 2015
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Geostationary orbit
Longitude	28.2° East
Transponders
Band	66transponders:; 62Ku-band; 4Ka-band
Bandwidth	250 / 500 / 600MHz
Coverage area	Europe
	Astra constellation ←Astra 5B Astra 1P→

Astra 2Gis one of theAstra communications satellitesowned and operated bySES,launched to theAstra 28.2°Eorbital position on 27 December 2014, at 21:37:49UTCfromBaikonur Cosmodrome.^[2]

Astra 2G is positioned at 28.5° East (part of the Astra 28.2°E orbital position) and is the last of three "second generation" satellites launched to this position to replace the first generationAstra 2A,Astra 2B,Astra 2CandAstra 2Dsatellites originally positioned there between 1998 and 2001, and it joinedAstra 2EandAstra 2Flaunched in 2013 and 2012, respectively.^[3]

Market[edit]

Astra 2G carries bothKu-bandandKa-bandpayloads and will deliver broadcast, VSAT and broadband services to Europe, theMiddle EastandAfrica,and will also provide the ability to connectWest Africato Europe via Ka-band.^[4]The Astra 28.2° East position was established in 1998 to providedigital television,digital radioand multimedia services to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a major part of Astra 2G's mission is to continue, extend and backup this provision. Along with Astra 2E and Astra 2F it will deliver programming to almost 13 million satellite homes, over 3 million cable homes, and 700,000Internet Protocol television(IPTV_ homes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, in particular for channels from the major United Kingdom digital satellite television platforms,BSkyBandFreesat.

Astra 2G also supportsSATMED,a satellite-based e-health platform developed by SES and supported by theLuxembourgGovernment and the Ministry for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action which enables communication between doctors, enabling the transfer and exchange of medical knowledge and supporting tools for medical e-learning and e-teaching to improve public health in emerging and developing countries, particularly in isolated areas.^[2]

Broadcasting footprints[edit]

Astra 2G has three Ku-banddownlinkbeams and one Ka-band beam:^[4]

The European beam is centred on theBeneluxcountries with reception from a 60 cm (24 in) dish available across most of Europe - west to thePortugueseeastern border, east toBelarus,north toEstoniaand south to coast ofNorth Africa.
The UK beam provides maximum signal (for reception with 45 cm (18 in) dishes) over the whole United Kingdom, Ireland, Benelux and northern France with a sharp roll-off of signal level outside this region, in close approximation of the UK beam ofAstra 2D.This enables channels to be broadcastfree-to-airbut with reception effectively constrained to theBritish Isles,and has been the basis for theFreesatfree-to-air United Kingdom platform.^[5]
The strongest signals of the West Africa beam (receivable on 50 cm (20 in) dishes) coversCôte d'Ivoire,Burkina Faso,Ghana,Togo,Benin,Nigeriaandnorthern Cameroon,with additional "lobes" for parts ofGabonandCongo.Reception on larger dishes is available across the entire sub-Saharan west Africa region.
The Ka-band footprint is centred on France with coverage over all of western Europe.

History[edit]

The launch of Astra 2G was intended to be from theBaikonur CosmodromebyInternational Launch Services(ILS)Proton-M launch vehiclea month earlier, on 28 November 2014 but technical problems with the launch vehicle caused it to be rolled back from the launch pad to undergo a component replacement. The satellite had arrived at Baikonur on 29 October 2014 after a delayed flight from Europe - an emergency landing of the transport aircraft in the city ofUlyanovskdue to engine trouble required replacement of the aircraft's engine and a two-day delay.^[6]

Finally launched successfully on 27 December 2014, at 21:37:49 UTC,^[7]the satellite was initially positioned at 21.0° East for three months and then tested at 43.5° East,^[8]^[9]before moving to the Astra 28.2° East position in June 2015.^[10]

On 18 June 2015, the first six channels, includingITVand Channel 4, began broadcasting from Astra 2G,^[11]transferred from Astra 2E, Astra 2F and, in particular fromEutelsat 28A,which was some two years beyond its expected end-of-life and operating with some transponders considerably under power.^[12]The final Eutelsat 28A channels, including theFreesatEPG data channel, transferred to Astra 2G on 29 June 2015.^[13]

Active transponders[edit]

Below is a list of the television channels broadcast to the UK and Ireland from active transponders on Astra 2G as of May 2023^[update]:^[14]

In the list, channels broadcast with a one-hour delay are shown asChannel +1hr.Where both the original and the delayed channel are broadcast from the same transponder, this is shown in one entry asChannel [also +1hr].

UK Beam

Tp61 11.023 GHz H 23000 3/4 DVB-S2:

BBC One Wales HD
BBC One West Midlands HD
BBC One Scotland HD
BBC News HD
BBC Alba HD

Tp63 11.053 GHz H 23000 3/4 DVB-S2:

ITV 2 HD (encrypted inVideoGuard)
ITV Granada HD
ITV Tyne Tees HD
ITV Wales HD
ITV Westcountry South West HD
ITV Westcountry West HD

Tp64 11.068 GHz V 23000 3/4 DVB-S2:

ITV 4 HD
ITV Anglia East HD
ITV Border England HD
ITV Yorkshire East HD
STV West HD
Ulster TV HD

Tp66 11.097 GHz V 23000 3/4 DVB-S2:

ITV 3 HD
ITV Anglia West HD
ITV Central East HD
ITV Meridian South Coast HD
ITV Meridian Thames Valley HD
ITV Yorkshire West HD

Tp68 11.126 GHz V 22000 5/6:

Channel 4 London HD
4seven

European Beam

Tp62 11.038 GHz V 22000 5/6 (encrypted inVideoGuard):

Animal Planet UK +1hr
Discovery Channel Ireland
Discovery Channel UK +1hr
Discovery History +1hr
Discovery Science UK +1hr
Discovery Turbo UK +1hr
DMAX Ireland (unencrypted)
HGTV Ireland (unencrypted)
Investigation Discovery Ireland
Investigation Discovery UK [also +1hr]
Quest Red Ireland (unencrypted)
TLC Ireland
TLC UK +1hr

Tp63 11.082 GHz H 22000 5/6:

Alibi Ireland (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Ahlulbayt TV
Blaze UK
CNN International Europe
Gem Collector
Gold Ireland (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Inspiration TV
Now 80's
Sewing Street
Sikh Channel
Spotlight TV
Viaplay Sports 2 (encrypted inVideoGuard)
W Ireland
Yarn Lane

Tp67 11.112 GHz H 22000 5/6:

Arise News
ARY Digital UK
ARY World
Brit Asia TV
Channel 7
Dunya News UK
Faith UK
Gems TV
Geo News International
Iqra Bangla
Iqra TV
Islam Channel
Islam TV
MATV Channel
TJC Beauty

Tp69 11.141 GHz H 22000 5/6 (encrypted inVideoGuard):

Comedy Central Ireland
Comedy Central UK [also +1hr]
Comedy Central Extra Ireland
MTV Hits UK
MTV Music UK
Nick Junior Ireland
Nick Junior Too Ireland
Nick Junior UK [also +1hr]
Nickelodeon Ireland
Nickelodeon UK +1hr
NickToons Ireland

Tp71 11.171 GHz H 22000 5/6 (encrypted inVideoGuard):

Akaal Channel UK (unencrypted)
Boomerang UK [also +1hr]
Cartoon Network UK [also +1hr]
Cartoonito UK
Nickelodeon UK
Racing TV
TCM Movies [also +1hr]
WildEarth HD

Tp106 11.224 GHz V 23000 2/3 DVB-S2:

Arirang World HD
NHK World TV HD
MTA 1 World HD
Zee TV UK (encrypted inVideoGuard)

Tp107 11.264 GHz H 27500 2/3:

4Music
Film 4 Ireland (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Kerrang!
Kiss TV
Magic TV
The Box UK

Tp108 11.264 GHz V 27500 2/3:

Dunamis TV
EWTN
Islam Channel Bangla
Islam Channel Urdu
Revelation TV
TBN
WION HD
Zee TV UK (encrypted inVideoGuard)

Tp89 11.464 GHz H 22000 5/6:

Aastha UK
Adult various (encrypted inVideoGuard)
British Muslim TV
Colors Cineplex (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Colors Rishtey Europe (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Cruise 1st TV
Euronews English
NTV Europe
PTC Punjabi
Samaa TV
Sanskar TV
TV One
Utsav Bharat

Tp90 11.479 GHz V 22000 5/6:

B4U Music UK (encrypted inVideoGuard)
B4U Movies UK (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Colors UK (encrypted inVideoGuard)
CNBC UK
Hidyat TV
London Live (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Madani Channel English
Panjab Broadcasting Channel
Sangat TV
Siraj TV
TVC News Nigeria
TRT World
Utsav Gold (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Utsav Plus (encrypted inVideoGuard)

Tp91 11.494 GHz H 22000 5/6:

QVC Beauty
QVC Extra
QVC Style UK HD
QVC UK HD

Tp92 11.509 GHz V 23000 2/3 DVB-S2:

Racing UK HD (encrypted inVideoGuard)
TRT World HD
Colors HD (encrypted inVideoGuard)

Tp94 11.538 GHz V 22000 5/6:

92 News
Ahlebait TV
ATN Bangla UK
Imam Hussein TV 3
Ion TV
KICC TV
Politics Punjab
Showcase TV
SportyStuff TV HD
The Word Network
UK 44

Tp95 11.553 GHz H 22000 5/6:

Channels 24
Clubland
Craft Extra
Deen TV
High Street TV2
High Street TV3
Hum Masala UK
Hum TV Europe
NDTV 24x7
Noor TV
Now Rock
NTD
PTV Global
SBN International
The Jewellery Channel

Tp96 11.568 GHz V 22000 5/6:

Aaj Tak UK
Best Direct
Court TV UK
Direct Store TV
Faith World TV
Gemporia Lifestyle
Geo UK
God TV
High Street TV1
High Street TV4
HobbyMaker
JewelleryMaker
JML Direct
Rok UK
SET Asia (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Sony SAB TV Asia (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Sony Max2 (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Takbeer TV
Travelxp
TV Warehouse

Tp97 11.582 GHz H 22000 5/6:

Aljazeera English HD
Channel S
Eman Channel
Foodxp
Ideal World Extra
Kanshi TV
Now 70s
Pitaara International
Sony Max UK (encrypted inVideoGuard)
Talking Pictures TV
That's 60s
That's TV

Tp98 11.597 GHz V 22000 5/6 (encrypted inVideoGuard):

Arise Play (unencrypted)
ARY QTV UK (unencrypted)
Create and Craft HD (unencrypted)
Crime + Investigation UK [also +1hr]
New Media HD (unencrypted)
Sky History [also +1hr]
Sky History 2
Sky Sports Racing UK
Zee Cinema UK

Tp100 11.627 GHz V 22000 5/6:

Comedy Central UK HD
Comedy Central Extra UK
MTV 80s
MTV 90s
MTV Ireland
MTV UK
MTV UK HD
Nick Jr UK HD
NickToons UK

Tp101 11.641 GHz H 23000 2/3 DVB-S2:

Phoenix CNE HD

Tp103 11.671 GHz H 23000 2/3 DVB-S2:

CNN International Europe HD
EarthxTV HD
Ideal World HD
Loveworld TV HD

Tp104 11.686 GHz V 23000 2/3 DVB-S2:

Bloomberg TV UK HD
Daystar TV HD
France 24 English HD
The Jewellery Channel HD
Viaplay Sports 1 (encrypted inVideoGuard)

References[edit]

^"ASTRA 2G".N2YO.Retrieved11 April2021.
^^a ^b"Astra 2G Satellite Roars Into Orbit"(Press release). SES. 28 November 2014.Retrieved1 January2015.
^"SES Orders Four New Satellites From ASTRIUM"(Press release). SES. 30 November 2009.Retrieved1 January2015.
^^a ^bASTRA 2G Archived2014-12-28 at theWayback MachineSES Fact Sheet January 2015 Accessed January 3, 2014
^Bains, Geoff "Flight of the Big Birds"What Satellite & Digital TVFebruary 2012 pp.29
^"Proton Technical Issues Postpone ILS Launch of Astra 2G"(Press release). SpaceNews. 26 November 2014.Retrieved1 January2015.
^Successful Proton Mission Caps busy Year of Russian Space LaunchesArchived26 October 2016 at theWayback MachineSpaceflight 101 December 27, 2014 Accessed October 28, 2016
^Single Satellite View for ASTRA 2Gaccessed March 3, 2015
^Astra 2G: Testing at 43.5°Eaccessed May 18, 2015
^Real Time Satellite Tracking And PredictionsAccessed June 29, 2015
^[1]Sat and PC Guy blog June 1, 2015 Accessed June 26, 2015
^RACE AGAINST TIME TO REPLACE FAILING EUROBIRD SATELLITEArchived2015-09-23 at theWayback MachineBest TV Choice June 1, 2015 Accessed June 29, 2015
^Freesat EPG and last few channels transfer from Eutelsat 28A to new Astra 2 satellitesSat and PC Guy blog June 29, 2015 Accessed June 29, 2015
^"Astra 2G at 28.2°E".LyngSat.Retrieved31 May2023.

External links[edit]

[n2yo-1] "ASTRA 2G".N2YO.Retrieved11 April2021.

[SESlaunch-2] "Astra 2G Satellite Roars Into Orbit"(Press release). SES. 28 November 2014.Retrieved1 January2015.

[3] "SES Orders Four New Satellites From ASTRIUM"(Press release). SES. 30 November 2009.Retrieved1 January2015.

[factsheet-4] ASTRA 2G Archived2014-12-28 at theWayback MachineSES Fact Sheet January 2015 Accessed January 3, 2014

[5] Bains, Geoff "Flight of the Big Birds"What Satellite & Digital TVFebruary 2012 pp.29

[6] "Proton Technical Issues Postpone ILS Launch of Astra 2G"(Press release). SpaceNews. 26 November 2014.Retrieved1 January2015.

[7] Successful Proton Mission Caps busy Year of Russian Space LaunchesArchived26 October 2016 at theWayback MachineSpaceflight 101 December 27, 2014 Accessed October 28, 2016

[8] Single Satellite View for ASTRA 2Gaccessed March 3, 2015

[9] Astra 2G: Testing at 43.5°Eaccessed May 18, 2015

[10] Real Time Satellite Tracking And PredictionsAccessed June 29, 2015

[11] [1]Sat and PC Guy blog June 1, 2015 Accessed June 26, 2015

[12] RACE AGAINST TIME TO REPLACE FAILING EUROBIRD SATELLITEArchived2015-09-23 at theWayback MachineBest TV Choice June 1, 2015 Accessed June 29, 2015

[13] Freesat EPG and last few channels transfer from Eutelsat 28A to new Astra 2 satellitesSat and PC Guy blog June 29, 2015 Accessed June 29, 2015

[14] "Astra 2G at 28.2°E".LyngSat.Retrieved31 May2023.

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v t e Satellites operated bySES
SESfleet	Active:SES-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (EchoStar 105) 12 14 15 16 (GovSat-1) 17
AMCfleet	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
NSSfleet	Active:NSS-6 7 9 10 11 12 806 Retired:NSS-5 513 703 K Failed launch:NSS-8
Astrafleet	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 ← 2013 Orbital launches in2014 2015 →
January	GSAT-14 Thaicom 6 CRS Orb-1(Flock-1× 28,ArduSat-2,Lituanica SAT-1,LitSat-1,SkyCube,UAPSat-1) TDRS-L
February	Progress M-22M ABS-2,Athena-Fidus Türksat 4A USA-248 GPM Core,Ginrei,KSAT-2,INVADER,OPUSAT,STARS-II,TeikyoSat-3,ITF-1
March	Ekspress AT1,Ekspress AT2 Astra 5B,Amazonas 4A Kosmos 2494 Soyuz TMA-12M Shi gian XI-06
April	USA-249/DMSP-5D3 F19 Sentinel-1A IRNSS-1B Progress M-23M Ofek-10 USA-250 EgyptSat 2 SpaceX CRS-3(KickSat) Luch 5V,KazSat-3
May	Kosmos 2495 Ekspress AM4R USA-251 USA-252 Kosmos 2496,Kosmos 2497,Kosmos 2498,Kosmos 2499 ALOS-2,Raijin-2,UNIFORM-1,SOCRATES,SPROUT Eutelsat 3B Soyuz TMA-13M
June	Kosmos 2500/GLONASS-M 755 AprizeSat9,AprizeSat10,BRITE-Montreal,BRITE-Toronto,BugSat 1,Deimos-2,Hodoyoshi 3,Hodoyoshi 4,KazEOSat 2,Perseus-M1,Perseus-M2,SaudiSat-4,TabletSat-Aurora,UniSat-6(Lemur-1,Tigrisat),Flock-1c× 11 SPOT 7,CanX-4,CanX-5
July	OCO-2 Gonets-M× 3 Meteor-M No.2 O3b× 4 CRS Orb-2(Flock-1b× 28,TechEdSat-4) Orbcomm-OG2× 6 Foton-M No.4 Progress M-24M USA-253/GSSAP 1,USA-254/GSSAP 2,USA-255 / ANGELS Georges LemaîtreATV
August	USA-256 AsiaSat 8 Yaogan 20A, B, C WorldView-3 Gaofen 2,Heweliusz Galileo FOC-1,Galileo FOC-2
September	Chuangxin 1-04,Lingqiao AsiaSat 6 Yaogan 21,Tiantuo 2 MEASAT 3b,Optus 10 USA-257 SpaceX CRS-4 Soyuz TMA-14M Olimp-K Shi gian XI-07
October	Himawari 8 IRNSS-1C ARSAT-1,Intelsat 30 Yaogan 22 Ekspress AM6 Chang'e 5-T1,4M Shi gian 11-08 Cygnus CRS Orb-3† (Arkyd-3†,Flock-1d× 26†) Progress M-25M USA-258/GPS IIF 8 Meridian 7
November	Sasuke,Hodoyoshi 1,Kinshachi 1,Tsukushi,TSUBAME Yaogan 23 Yaogan 24 Kuaizhou 2 Soyuz TMA-15M Kosmos 2501
December	Hayabusa2,PROCYON,Shinen 2,DESPATCH Orion EFT-1 DirecTV-14,GSAT-16 CBERS-4 Yaogan 25A, B, C USA-259 Yamal-401 O3b× 4 (FM9 to FM12) Kondor-E No.2 IPM Kosmos 2502 Resurs-P No.2 Yaogan 26 Astra 2G Fengyun 2-08
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas (, ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flightsare underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).