Astra 1M
Astra 1M is a Luxembourgian geostationary communications satellite which is operated by SES. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 19.2 degrees East, from where it is used to provide direct-to-home broadcasting to Europe.History
Astra 1M was built by Astrium under a contract signed in 2005, and is based on the Eurostar 3000S satellite bus. It is equipped with thirty six transponders operating in the J band of the NATO-defined spectrum, or the Ku band of the older IEEE-defined spectrum. At launch it had a mass of, with an expected operational lifespan of around 15 years, however four of its transponders will be deactivated five years after launch. At the beginning of its operational life, it had a maximum power consumption of 9.3 kilowatts, which is expected to have decreased to 8.3 kilowatts by the end of the satellite's operational life.
The launch of Astra 1M was conducted by International Launch Services, using a Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M upper stage. The launch occurred from Site 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at 20:44:20 GMT on 5 November 2008. Astra 1M was successfully placed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from which it raised itself to geostationary orbit by means of an onboard apogee motor.
