New addition to 28e?

[Conaxthewarrior]

Hello all,
Looking at the 28e listings at King of Sat and comparing them with Lyngsat, I've noticed Lyngsat shows an extra satellite , astra 1D. Nothing is listed as transmitting from this satelite which seems odd. I read earlier that a satelite was due to be moved from 19e to 28e so could this be it? Originally the astra 1N was to stay and one was to go, with the overall number at 28e remaining at 4 but now it seems there's 6 there??? Seems peculiar that KOS has missed an entire satellite as well.

[Larry-G]

Astra 1D's main role in life is pretty much at a end adn is basically mow just a spare "bird" that is used as backup for the Astra fleet and is regularly moved to different locations to cover and compensate for other satellites as and when needed, yes it is currently at 28.2 east or was last time i looked but it's not operating in any real capacity at the moment.

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Astra 1D
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last communications satellite from Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), now SES Astra. It was launched to Astra's original solitary operational position at 19.2° east, and was intended as an in-orbit spare for Astra's 1A, 1B and 1C. However, demand for additional capacity for both British and German television channels, plus the extension of the receivable segment of the Ku band by 250 MHz on most consumer equipment led to the satellite becoming regularly used, and the launch of a further four Astra satellites to the 19.2° east position.

When the satellite originally went on air, several of its transponders were used by British Sky Broadcasting for new channels such as Granada Talk TV. Since these channels used frequencies that were not available on the original Sky receivers due to being outside the original BSS band, Sky issued viewers with frequency shifters ("ADX Plus Channel Expanders"), comprising small boxes the size of a cigarette packet with a single switch and an on/off LED. When connected between the dish and the receiver (and powered by the receiver) these allowed viewers to switch manually between the Astra 1A and Astra 1D frequency bands - precisely 250 MHz.

History

After launch to 19.2° east, Astra 1D served two periods as a spare at the Astra 28.2°E position colocated with Astra 2A, during mid-1998 and for most of 2000. In between these two periods, it returned to the Astra 19.2°E position. During this time, some small numbers of transponders were used for regular service. After other Astra craft (Astra 2B, Astra 2D) either arrived or were ordered for the slot, it moved to 24.2° east where it spent almost two years carrying little more than test cards or feeds, until a move to 23° east (September 2003) and then 23.5° east (November 2004)[1] where Euro1080 began to use it as their main transmitting craft.

In November 2007, Astra 1D was replaced at the Astra 23.5°E position by Astra 1E, and was moved to 31.5° east, where it operated in inclined orbit, to replace Optus A3, and was joined in April 2008 by Astra 5A to officially open the Astra 31.5°E position.

On January 16, 2009 Astra 5A suffered a technical failure and all traffic ceased. Much of it (especially channels for German cable service, Kabel Deutschland) transferred to Astra 23.5°E as Astra 1D was not suitable for the transmission of these services because it was in an inclined orbit. In May 2009, Astra 2C was moved from the 28.2° east position to Astra 31.5°E to take over Astra 5A's mission with Astra 1D as ultimate backup. In June 2010, Astra 1G was moved from Astra 23.5°E to Astra 31.5°E (following the launch of Astra 3B to 23.5° east), where it could take over all broadcasting activity from Astra 2C, releasing Astra 2C for backup, and releasing Astra 1D for use elsewhere. Astra 1D then commenced movement westwards and in August 2010 arrived at 1.8°E where, with Astra 1C at 2.0°E it can be used for occasional traffic such as outside broadcast news feeds. In october 2011 Astra 1D returned to 28°E.

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now for a bird moving from 19.2 to 28.2 you getting a little confused.
Astra 1N will be situated at 28.2 east until a new Astra 2 bird is ready for launch, at that time 1N will be moved to it's original and permanant home at 19.2 east.

[Conaxthewarrior]

Extremely well answered, Pheonix, now I'm very clear about things.