SES ASTRA Develops Orbital Hot Spot for Broadcasting



    SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), announced
    today that it has moved its satellite ASTRA 1E from the orbital
    position 19.2 degrees East to 23.5 degrees East to replace the
    satellite ASTRA 1D which is approaching the end of its design life.

    At its new position, ASTRA 1E joins ASTRA 3A and will become
    operational by the end of this month. The move of ASTRA 1E was made
    possible by the successful launch of ASTRA 1L, which started its
    services at 19.2 degrees East in July. To further enhance the 23.5
    degrees East position, another new satellite, ASTRA 3B, is scheduled
    to be launched by the end of 2009, adding 19 transponders to the 37
    transponders available on ASTRA 3A and ASTRA 1E at this orbital
    position today.

    SES ASTRA is building 23.5 degrees East into a new prime orbital
    slot for Direct-to-Home (DTH) reception, focusing specifically on the
    dynamic Benelux and Central and Eastern European markets. Today, more
    than 330 TV and radio channels are available from 23.5 degrees East,
    including the satellite platform operators Sky Link from Slovakia and
    CS Link from the Czech Republic. CS Link now disposes of 250,000
    activated smart cards in the market; the Czech broadcaster Nova TV
    launches its new first Czech High Definition (HD) pilot channel on CS
    Link.

    23.5 degrees East also transmits the Dutch regional broadcasters
    and the Netherlands' satellite TV provider Canal Digitaal. SES ASTRA
    has recently concluded an agreement with Canal Digitaal to use further
    capacity on 23.5 degrees East for the launch of a new thematic bouquet
    at the end of this month and for a new HD bouquet next year. The
    successful introduction of satellite dish devices for the simultaneous
    reception of signals from 19.2 degrees and 23.5 degrees East with Duo
    LNBs allows satellite homes to receive nearly 1,500 digital free- and
    pay-TV and radio programs and services from these two orbital slots of
    SES ASTRA.

    The innovative satellite broadband service ASTRA2Connect is
    transmitted from 23.5 degrees East and will be further developed. The
    change of satellites at 23.5 degrees East will have no impact on
    customer services as the two satellites are using the same
    frequencies.

    "The move of ASTRA 1E is an important step for SES ASTRA to
    further extend our DTH services for broadcasters across Europe at our
    orbital position 23.5 degrees East", said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief
    Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. "It builds a basis for additional
    growth in the DTH and two-way broadband business. With ASTRA 1E and
    the launch of ASTRA 3B, we will continue to develop our satellite
    fleet significantly and increase the attractiveness and the high
    quality of our services to customers."

    About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com

    SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in
    Europe, delivering services to more than 109 million DTH and cable
    households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13
    satellites, transmitting 1,864 analogue and digital television and
    radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia,
    internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments
    and their agencies. With 26 High Definition (HD) channels available
    via its satellites today, ASTRA is also the most important HDTV
    broadcasting platform in Europe. ASTRA's prime orbital positions are
    19.2 degrees East, 28.2 degrees East, and 23.5 degrees East.

    SES ASTRA is an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES owns
    three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES
    AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES, which provide global
    coverage and connectivity. The Company also holds strategic
    participations in SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in
    Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions
    via a fleet of 37 satellites in 25 orbital positions around the globe.
    Additional information on SES is available at: www.ses.com