| Reception of British TV & Radio in France |
After over a decade in service, the Astra satellites copositioned at 28.2° east are reaching the end of their intended period of service. Plans are already well underway to replace the three satellites providing televisin and radio services to the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic, Astra 2A, Astra 2B and Astra 2D.
What will all these changes entail for those currently viewing TV via Sky or Freesat? If you live within the intended reception area of the new satellites (the British Isles), then your viewing will not be affected and you will continue to receive all the services you currently have.
For viewers outside the British Isles in mainland Europe, reception of certain channels currently on Astra 2A or 2B may change or be lost in certain areas after all the new satellites are operational.
Changes are already underway, all frequencies and channels have moved from Astra 2D to a new satellite which has been temporarily positioned at 28.2° east, Astra 1N.
Astra 1N has three spotbeams, two pan-european and one UK spotbeam. All the current channels on Astra 1N use the UK spotbeam.
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| Astra 1N Spotbeams |
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UK Spotbeam (SES Astra) |
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Pan-European Beam 1 (SES Astra) |
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Pan-European Beam 2 (SES Astra) |
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Astra 1N UK Spotbeam by SATBEAMS |
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| Astra 2D frequencies transfered to Astra 1N |
The Astra 2D satellite has now ceased broadcasting at 28.2° east, all frequencies and channels have now been transfered to Astra 1N. If you are within the British Isles, you should not encounter any reception problem. Most overseas viewers should notice an improvment in signal strength, some viewers may encounter reception problems or no reception at all.
The Astra 2D website is still here to help, so please post reception reports along with any information about the equipment used on the Astra 2D Forum. All frequencies are using the UK spotbeam. |
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| How will these changes affect viewers overseas? |
There have been many rumours doing their rounds on the Internet, that overseas viewers will lose all their channels once these changes are complete. For viewers in some areas of Europe, this may be true, this depends on which spotbeam Sky deciide to use for their channels. There is no reason for Sky to opt for the UK spotbeam, their channels are encrypted and there are no copyrigh issues. There are many expats who have legal subscriptions registered to a UK address, there are many British or Irish pubs and bars that have Sky Sports, these are all income for Sky.
It seems unlikely that Sky would want to lose this income, at this time there are no answers and no guarentees of future reception.
As for the main terrestrial broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, these are going to use the UK spotbeam and already do on Astra 2D and Astra 1N. If you can already receive signals from these two satellites, then little is likely to change over the coming years. Again there are no guarentees, the new satellites are the same type as Astra 1N and are almost certain to have similar spotbeams, only time will tell.
Many free-to-air channels currently use Eurobird 1 at 28.5° east, launched in 2001 it has an expected lifespan of twelve years, there is currently no information on whether this satellite is to be replaced. If not, then many will have to move to the new satellites.
Now is not the time to be investing in any new equipment, it will be wiser to wait until the launch of Astra 2F towards the end of 2012. |
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| Current Satellites |
| Astra 2A |
Astra 2A was launched in 1998, it has two spotbeams, both of which transmit on horizontal and vertical polarisation, "2A North" and "2A South". The South beam covers almost all of Europe, with the North beam covering only Northern Europe at a high power.
The body-stabilized Boeing 601 satellite is the best-selling large spacecraft model in the world. Eighty-one orders for the spacecraft had been received by January 2002.
The satellite has an expected lifespan of 15 years. |
| Astra 2B |
Astra 2B was launched in 2000 to join Astra 2A at the Astra 28.2°E orbital slot providing digital television and radio broadcast services to the UK and Republic of Ireland.
The satellite provides two broadcast beams, each with horizontal and vertical polarisation, across two footprints - 2B North (covering central Europe and Scandinavia) and 2B South (covering Central Europe and the Iberian peninsula and Canary Islands).
Signals from Astra 2B can be received with a 43 cm dish across the majority of the British Isles with a 60 cm dish required in the extreme north and west.
Astra 2B can also provide backup capacity, substituting for one or more transponders across the whole 10.70-12.75 GHz range used by Astra satellites at 28.2° east .
The satellite has an expected lifespan of 15 years. |
| Astra 2D (No longer in service at 28.2° East) |
Astra 2D was launched from the Guiana Space Centre in December 2000. Astra 2D, was the first spin-stabilized satellite in the SES fleet, is a Boeing 376HP, for high-power, satellite..
The Boeing 376 is one of the most popular spacecraft models. The satellite has an expected lifespan of 12 years.
Astra 2D was the most difficult of the three to receive outside the British Isles, due to it's single UK spotbeam. Weak reception had been a problem for many overseas viewers for many years.
All frequencies from Astra 2D have been transfered to Astra 1N. |
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| The New Satellites |
In November 2009, Astrium was selected by SES to deliver three new communications satellites for it's satellite position at 28.2° east. The satellites, to be designated Astra 2E, Astra 2F, and Astra 2G, are scheduled for launch between 2012 and 2014. These satellites will be built on a Eurostar E3000 platform (the same model as Astra 1N), the latest version of Astrium’s Eurostar series which has proven to be highly reliable in commercial service. The design life of each satellite is 15 years.
Astra 2E, Astra 2F and Astra 2G will serve to deliver next generation broadcast, VSAT and broadband services in Europe and Africa, and will carry Ku-and Ka-band payloads at 28.2° east.
Astra 2E, 2F and 2G will each have 55 Ku-band transponders at 130W RF power, they will have three deployable antennas with diameter up to 2.6m and one top-floor steerable 1.3m antenna.
The three antennas will be used for the tree spotbeams, two pan-european and one UK spotbeam. |
| Astra 2E |
The Astra 2E satellite is due to launch in 2013 and will be located at 28.2° east.
Astra 2E will serve to deliver next generation broadcast, VSAT and broadband services in Europe and Africa, and will carry Ku-and Ka-band payloads at 28.2° East.
The Ku-band capacity will allow SES ASTRA to enhance and secure its existing offering to major Direct-to-Home (DTH) markets in the UK and Ireland.
With a Ku-band payload specifically designed to meet the requirements of some of Europe’s largest DTH broadcasters, the satellites will have spot beam and pan-European beam switching capabilities to accommodate both pay-TV and free-to-air broadcasters, and to provide these customers with increased functionality. |
| See Astra 2E |
| Astra 2F |
The Astra 2F satellite is scheduled to launch on September 14 - ASTRA 2F & GSAT 10 - Ariane 5 ECA (VA209).
Astra 2F will serve to deliver next generation broadcast, VSAT and broadband services in Europe and Africa, and will carry Ku-and Ka-band payloads at 28.2° East.
The Ku-band capacity will allow SES ASTRA to enhance and secure its existing offering to major Direct-to-Home (DTH) markets in the UK and Ireland.
With a Ku-band payload specifically designed to meet the requirements of some of Europe’s largest DTH broadcasters, the satellites will have spot beam and pan-European beam switching capabilities to accommodate both pay-TV and free-to-air broadcasters, and to provide these customers with increased functionality. |
| See Astra 2F |
| Astra 2G |
The Astra 2G satellite is due to launch early in 2014 and will be located at 28.2° east.
Astra 2F will serve to deliver next generation broadcast, VSAT and broadband services in Europe and Africa, and will carry Ku-and Ka-band payloads at 28.2° East.
The Ku-band capacity will allow SES ASTRA to enhance and secure its existing offering to major Direct-to-Home (DTH) markets in the UK and Ireland.
With a Ku-band payload specifically designed to meet the requirements of some of Europe’s largest DTH broadcasters, the satellites will have spot beam and pan-European beam switching capabilities to accommodate both pay-TV and free-to-air broadcasters, and to provide these customers with increased functionality. |
| See Astra 2G |
| Astra 1N |
ASTRA 1N satellite has entered commercial service at the orbital position of 28.2 degrees East, it has a UK spotbeam focused over the British Isles, allowing previously encryted channels to go free-to-air.
ASTRA 1N was built by Astrium on the Eurostar E3000 platform and is equipped with 52 transponders in the Ku frequency band.
ITV has now moved most of its channels from Astra 2D to Astra 1N, no frequency changes
Channel 4's channels have all moved to Astra 1N.
Channel 5's bouquet of channels are on Astra 1N, they are all now broadcasting free-to-air.
Channel 5 HD is expected to join Freesat sometime in 2012, it is almost certain to be on Astra 1N.
BBC frequencies and channels have all moved to Astra 1N. |
| See Astra 1N |
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UK Spot Beam (SES Astra) |
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Pan-European Beam 1 (SES Astra) |
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Pan-European Beam 2 (SES Astra) |
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Astra 1N UK Footprint at SATBEAMS |
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