Jan 12, 2010, post by Artur Ślesik
SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG)(LUxX:SESG), announced today that it has been awarded a second contract by the European Commission (EC) to provide hosted payload services for EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service. The contract was awarded following a tender by the European Commission. EGNOS is Europe’s first contribution to satellite navigation and a precursor of Galileo, the global satellite navigation system that the European Union (EU) is developing. The programme is managed by the EC on behalf of the European Union.
The new payload will operate in L-band and be located onboard SES ASTRA’s new ASTRA 5B satellite that was recently ordered from EADS ASTRIUM. The satellite is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2013 and will be positioned at SES ASTRA’s 31.5 degrees East orbital position. In addition to the payload, SES ASTRA will also provide the related ground infrastructure needed to operate the awarded payload.
EGNOS is a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) that is intended to supplement the GPS, GLONASS and Galileo systems by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of satellite navigation signals over Europe. The entire system consists of a network of ground stations and control centres that will relay EGNOS information to users via geostationary transponders. While EGNOS covers the European states area, the hosting satellite has the built-in capability to extend coverage to other regions, including Africa and neighbouring countries of the EU.
The award to provide hosted payload services onboard ASTRA 5B follows a first agreement with the European Commission for EGNOS hosted payload services onboard SES ASTRA’s SIRIUS 5 satellite. The contract for hosted payload services onboard SIRIUS 5 was awarded to SES ASTRA following a tender that took place in 2008. SIRIUS 5, currently under construction by Space Systems/Loral and scheduled for launch in the second half of 2011, will be positioned at the 5 degrees East orbital position. In addition to EGNOS, SES ASTRA is already providing infrastructure services to Galileo.
Dec 14, 2009, post by Satellite News
The satellite service provider SES has placed an order worth an estimated five hundred million Euros with the Space systems group Astrium, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company.
The order is for four new satellites which will be known as ASTRA 2E, ASTRA 2F, ASTRA 2G and ASTRA 5B.
The estimated launch time will be between 2012 and 2014 and each satellite should have a lifespan of around fifteen years.
Once in orbit and fully operational the satellites will be used to boost the satellite TV services in Europe and in Africa too.
This is an interesting announcement from SES which has been building and putting satellites into orbit at a high rate over the last couple of years in order to keep up with the demand from consumers.
Dec 13, 2009, post by Artur Ślesik
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SES Astra, an SES company, announced today that it is further expanding its successful satellite-based broadband service Astra2Connect, and will offer the service in the Middle East as of next year.
As a result, the company has signed a second service distribution agreement with Intersat Africa, a provider of satellite-based Internet services based in Kenya, Africa, for broadband services on SES Astra’s new satellite Astra 3B scheduled for launch in 2010.
This agreement follows a recently signed contract with Intersat Africa for the distribution of Astra2Connect in 10 countries in eastern and central Africa.
Under the terms of the new contract, Intersat Africa will market Astra2Connect in Middle Eastern countries (Iraq & Afghanistan included), and will offer four different download packages of up to 2Mbps using a 100cm satellite antenna.
Astra 3B, built by Astrium, will be positioned at SES Astra’s increasingly important orbital position 23.5 degrees east. The new satellite will carry 52 marketable transponders, with a maximum of 12 designated for the Middle East.
The innovative Astra2Connect satellite service offers customers in regions without terrestrial broadband networks an easy solution to access high-speed Internet. At the same time, they can benefit from highly reliable, always-on and interactive broadband connections for flat service fees.
The customer premises equipment – a modem and a satellite dish – is low cost and easy to install. The equipment is based on Newtec’s successful Sat3Play technology.
Astra2Connect was first marketed in early 2007 and now already serves 50 000 end-users throughout Europe. Based on this success, the Astra2Connect technology was further developed, and now also provides satellite-based Internet connections for the industrial and maritime markets. The service is marketed via wholesalers and internet service providers.
“This is our second agreement with Intersat Africa to market Astra2Connect outside Europe, and we are very pleased that we can now offer our successful satellite technology in the Middle Eastern region as well,” said Norbert Willems, Managing Director of Astra Broadband Services.
“We are confident that ASTRA2Connect has the right potential for the Middle Eastern markets. There are many countries where a reliable terrestrial broadband network is not affordable, or is absent. The Astra2Connect technology is therefore an ideal solution for all households without access to other networks.”
“We are very proud to be teaming up with such a strong partner as SES Astra for the Middle East in addition to our recent partnerships for Africa,” says Abdul Bakhrani, CEO of Intersat Africa.
“Our agreement allows us to enter the dynamic and very promising Middle Eastern markets, so that countries that lack a broadband Internet infrastructure, now will have access to cost-effective, reliable and bi-directional broadband Internet connections via satellite.”
