Astra 2E
Astra 2E is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital slot on 30 September 2013 after a 10-week delay caused by rocket launcher problems. The satellite provides free-to-air and encrypted direct-to-home digital TV and satellite broadband services for Europe and the Middle East.
After launch, Astra 2E underwent in-orbit testing at 43.5°E and began commercial operations at 28.2°E in February 2014. At that time, channels broadcast via Astra 1N were transferred to Astra 2E and Astra 1N relocated to its design position at 19.2°E.
Astra 2E is the second of three 'second generation' satellites for the 28.2°E position to replace the first generation Astra 2A, Astra 2B, Astra 2C and Astra 2D craft originally positioned there between 1998 and 2001. The first, Astra 2F, was launched in 2012 and the third, Astra 2G, was launched in 2014.
Unlike other SES/Astra spacecraft, the launch order of Astra 2E and Astra 2F is not reflected in their alphabetical names, with Astra 2F launched 10 months before Astra 2E.
Market
The Astra 28.2°E position was established in 1998 to provide digital TV, digital radio and multimedia services to the UK and Republic of Ireland, and Astra 2E's primary mission is to continue this provision as replacement and follow-on capacity to the Astra 2A, Astra 2D and Astra 1N satellites. Along with Astra 2F it delivers programming to almost 13 million satellite homes, over 3 million cable homes, and 700,000 IPTV homes in the UK and Ireland, in particular for channels from the major UK digital satellite TV platforms, BSkyB and Freesat.ASTRA 2E also delivers broadcast and VSAT services in Europe, Middle East and Africa in Ku-band. and Ka-band capacity will provide internet via satellite with download speeds of up to 20 Mbit/s to Germany.
Broadcasting footprint
Astra 2E has three Ku-band downlink beams covering Europe Americas and The Middle East Register- The Europe beam is centred on the English Channel with maximum signal over the UK, Ireland, France, Benelux, and parts of Germany, Austria, and Spain, and reception on a larger dish extending to Italy, Poland, North Africa, and the Balkans.
- The UK Spot beam provides maximum signal over the UK, Ireland, Benelux and Northern France with a sharp roll-off of signal level outside this region, in close approximation of the UK Beam of Astra 2D. This enables channels to be broadcast free-to-air but with reception effectively constrained to the British Isles, and has been the basis for the Freesat free-to-air UK platform.
- The Middle East beam is centred on the Arabian peninsula and extends to Turkey and into eastern Africa, to provide for reception with 50 cm dishes.
The craft is fitted with 60 Ku-band transponders.
Launch delay
The launch of Astra 2E was intended to be by ILS Proton-M rocket on 21 July 2013 but the previous launch of this rocket on 2 July 2013, carrying three Russian GLONASS navigation satellites, ended with the rocket exploding shortly after lift off and the Proton launch programme was postponed. The fault with the failed rocket was found to be the incorrect installation of three angular rate sensors, the Russian Federal Space Agency reported, and the launch programme was recommenced in September 2013.TV Channels on Astra 2E
Below is a list,, of the TV and radio channels broadcast from Astra 2E on its UK Beam and European Beam :In the list, TV channels broadcast with a one-hour delay are shown Channel +1hr. Where both the original and the delayed channel are broadcast from the same transponder, this is shown in one entry as Channel .
UK Beam
Tp41 10.714 GHz H 22000 5/6:
- Channel 4 Ireland +1hr
- Channel 4 London
- Channel 4 Midlands
- Channel 4 North
- Channel 4 Scotland
- Channel 4 South & East
- E4 Ireland +1hr
- E4 UK
- Film4 UK
- More4 UK +1hr
- More4 Ireland
- CITV
- ITV 2
- ITV 4
- ITV Anglia East
- ITV Be
- ITV Central West
- ITV Granada
- ITV London
- ITV Meridian East +1hr
- BBC Four
- BBC One Channel Islands
- BBC One East West
- BBC One London
- BBC One West
- BBC Two England
- CBeebies UK
- BBC One E. Yorks & Lincs
- BBC One East East
- BBC One East Midlands
- BBC One West Midlands
- BBC One Wales
- BBC Two Wales
- BBC Parliament
- BBC Radio 3
- BBC Radio 4 Extra
- BBC Radio 4 FM
- BBC Radio 4 LW
- BBC Radio 6 Music
- BBC Radio Cymru
- BBC Radio Foyle
- BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
- BBC Radio Scotland
- BBC Radio Wales
- BBC Radio Ulster
- BBC World Service UK
- BBC Alba
- BBC One Scotland
- BBC One North East & Cumbria
- BBC One North West
- BBC One South East
- BBC One Yorkshire & North Midlands
- BBC Scotland
- BBC Asian Network
- BBC Radio 1
- BBC Radio 1xtra
- BBC Radio 2
- BBC Radio Cymru 2
- BBC Radio 5 Live
- BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
- BBC Radio London
- BBC News
- BBC One Northern Ireland
- BBC One Oxford
- BBC One South
- BBC One South West
- BBC Two Northern Ireland
- BBC One HD
- BBC One Northern Ireland HD
- BBC Two HD
- BBC Two Wales HD
- CBBC HD
- ITV 2 +1hr
- ITV Be +1hr
- ITV Border
- ITV Central West +1hr
- ITV London +1hr
- ITV Meridian South Coast
- ITV Meridian East
- ITV Westcountry South West +1hr
- ITV Tyne Tees
- ITV Yorkshire West
- ITV 3
- ITV Channel Television
- ITV Granada +1hr
- ITV Westcountry South West
- STV East
- STV North
- STV Tayside
- STV West
- UTV
- TalkSport
- Channel 4 Ireland
- Channel 4 London +1hr
- Channel 4 North +1hr
- Channel 4 Northern Ireland
- Channel 4 Scotland +1hr
- Channel 4 South & East +1hr
- E4 Ireland
- E4 UK +1hr
- Film 4 Ireland
- Film 4 UK +1hr
- More 4 UK
- BT Sport 2 HD
- BT Sport 2 in Pubs HD
- BT Sport ESPN HD
- BT Sport 1 HD
- BT Sport 3 HD
- The Racing Partnership
- France 24 English HD
- FreeSports HD
- LaLiga TV HD
- Quest HD
- S4C HD
Tp3 11.758 GHz H 27500 2/3 DVB-S2 :
- Sky UHD1
- Star Gold UK HD
Nick Jr HD
- Sky Sports Football HD
- Sky Sports Golf HD
- Sky Sports Main Event HD
- Sky Sports News HD
- Sky Sports Premier League Ireland HD
- Challenge
- Crime + Investigation
- E! UK
- Forces TV
- H2 UK
- History UK
- Lifetime UK
- National Geographic UK
- Nat Geo Wild UK
- Sky Crime +1hr
- Sky Witness UK
- Syfy UK
- Together TV
- Zee Cinema UK
- British Eurosport 1 HD
- British Eurosport 2 HD
- E4 HD
- Sky One Ireland HD
- Sky Sports Arena HD
- Sky Sports Main Event Ireland HD
- Baby TV
- Disney Channel
- Disney Junior
- Disney XD
- MUTV
- Oireachtas TV
- RTÉ 2
- RTÉ Jnr
- RTÉ News Now
- RTÉ One
- TG4
- RTÉ Lyric
- RTÉ Radio 1
- RTÉ Radio 2
- RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
- Challenge Ireland
- Ginx eSports TV
- Sky Cinema Action & Adventure
- Sky Cinema Comedy
- Sky Cinema Crime & Thriller
- Sky Cinema Disney
- Sky Cinema Drama & Romance
- Sky Cinema Family
- Sky Cinema Greats
- Sky Cinema Premiere
- Sky Cinema Sci-Fi & Horror
- Sky Cinema Select
- Sky Crime
- Sky Intro
- Sky On Demand B
- Sky Channel Line-up
- SES 8K UHD tests
- Animal Planet UK HD
- Boomerang UK HD
- Sky Cinema Comedy HD
- Sky Cinema Disney HD
- Sky Cinema Drama & Romance HD
- Sky Cinema Greats HD
- Sky Cinema Sci-Fi & Horror HD
- TLC UK HD
- W UK HD
- Movies 24
- Movies 24+
- Pick UK
- Sky Arts
- Sky News UK
- Sky Sports Active 1-9
- Vice UK
- Virgin Media One +1hr
- Virgin Media Two
- Sky News Radio
- Sky News Ireland HD
- Sky Sports Action HD
- Sky Sports Cricket HD
- Sky Sports F1 HD
- Sky Sports News Ireland HD
- Sky Sports Mix HD
- Dave UK HD
- E! UK HD
- History 2 UK HD
- LFC TV HD
- Sky On Demand HD 3
- Sony Max UK HD
- Syfy UK HD
- TG 4 HD
- Alibi UK HD
- Comedy Central UK HD
- Disney XD UK HD
- Gold UK HD
- MTV UK HD
- National Geographic UK HD
- Nickelodeon UK HD
- STV East HD
- Astra promo HD
- SES Ultra HD Demo