SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), has announced today
the start of a new orbital position at 31.5 degrees East. The new
position will allow SES ASTRA to operate satellite services at up to 40
new broadcasting frequencies (BSS) and strongly support the development
of the Eastern European and Middle East markets. The satellite Sirius 2
which is part of the SES fleet and is renamed ASTRA 5A, has been moved
from 5 degrees East to the new position and will allow the
commercialization of up to 26 transponders in a first step.
The move of Sirius 2 has been made possible by the successful launch of
the new Sirius 4 satellite at the end of last year. The African beam
that Sirius 4 carries is now commercialized under the name ASTRA 4A.
With the new position, SES ASTRA and SES SIRIUS operate five orbital
positions with their fleet of now 13 ASTRA and 2 SIRIUS satellites: the
prime orbital position 19.2 degrees East, serving the Direct-to-Home
(DTH) markets in Western Europe, especially Germany, France and Spain
28.2 degrees East, which focuses on the UK and Irish markets, 5 degrees
East, for the Sirius satellites, serving the Northern and Eastern
European countries, 23.5 degrees East, which is developing into a second
important DTH position, especially for Benelux and Central European
countries, and the new position at 31.5 degrees East.
"The start of the new orbital position adds
significant growth possibilities to our business and allows us to
continue our strategy of a successful expansion"
said Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA. "It
enlarges our offer to customers especially in the dynamic Eastern
European markets and will represent an important growth driver for SES
ASTRA and SES SIRIUS and their customers. It will also give us more
flexibility on our orbital positions 23.5 and 5 degrees East in order to
continue to develop them into strong DTH positions."
About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com
SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in
Europe. The satellite fleet currently comprises 13 ASTRA and two SIRIUS
satellites. The combined satellite system delivers services to more than
117 million DTH and cable households and transmits a total of 2,295
analogue and digital television as well as radio channels. SES ASTRA
also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and telecommunication
services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With 31 High
Definition (HD) channels available via its satellites today, ASTRA and
SIRIUS represent the most important HDTV broadcasting platform in
Europe. The prime orbital positions for ASTRA and SIRIUS are 19.2° East, 28.2° East, 23.5° East and 5° 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 provides global coverage and
connectivity. The company owns 90 percent of SES SIRIUS in Europe, as
well as strategic participations in Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in
Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via
a fleet of 38 satellites in 25 orbital positions around the globe.
Additional information on SES is available at: www.ses.com
