ASTRA 3A ROARS INTO SPACE FROM KOUROU

23.5° East to be activated as third ASTRA slot over Europe

The ASTRA 3A satellite of SES ASTRA roared into space onboard an Ariane 4 booster from the European Space Port in Kourou (French Guyana) in the evening hours of March 28th, 2002 (10.29 pm Kourou time, i.e. 00.29 am GMT or 02.29 am Paris time on March 29th).

ASTRA 3A, the thirteenth satellite in the ASTRA fleet, will be the first SES ASTRA spacecraft to be permanently positioned at ASTRA's third orbital position over Europe, 23.5° East. From this position, ASTRA 3A will notably provide follow-on capacity for the Kopernikus satellite of Deutsche Telekom AG, who has contracted 10 transponders on the spacecraft.

The satellite has the capability of operating 20 transponders, each with a bandwidth of 36 MHz, in the Ku-band frequency range of 11.45 - 12.75 GHz and an optimized coverage area for the German speaking countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. ASTRA 3A, the second "spinner" satellite in the ASTRA fleet, was built by Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. and has a design life of 10 years. Launch services onboard the European Ariane 4 launch vehicle were assured by Arianespace, who now has a track record of 8 successful ASTRA launches on either Ariane 4 or Ariane 5.

States Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA: "ASTRA 3A will provide SES ASTRA with highly cost-effective additional transmission capacity for cable feeds and new, innovative broadband applications targeting the thriving German speaking markets. SES ASTRA wishes to thank the technical teams of its longstanding partners Arianespace and Boeing Satellite Systems for their efforts to make this launch the thirteenth ASTRA success in a row."

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Upcoming ASTRA 3A mission events:

Since injection into geostationary transfer orbit, the ASTRA 3A spacecraft is being monitored 24 hours a day by tracking stations in Castle Rock (US), Betzdorf (Luxembourg) and Sydney (Australia).

Within the next few days, the Apogee Kick Motor (AKM) as well as a few orbital corrections will carry ASTRA 3A into geostationary orbit. The AKM motor will be fired during the fourth revolution around the Earth.

Reflector deployment, solar drum extension as well as final earth acquisition are scheduled to take place 7 to 8 days into the mission.

After thorough payload testing, ASTRA 3A will be deployed at the orbital position of 23.5° East. The operational service date for the thirteenth spacecraft in the ASTRA constellation is scheduled to take place during the second half of May, 2002.