Astra 2A

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**Astra 2A**
General information
Launch Date	August 30, 1998
Launch Mass	3,635 kg
Orbit Mass
Manufacturer	Hughes
Model	HS-601HP
Launcher / Flight Number	Proton /
Lifetime	15 year
Transponder Information
Transponder Capacity	32 Ku band to be reduced to 28 as craft aged.
Twta output power	28x98W
Bandwidth	28x33 MHz
EIRP	51 dBW
Sundries
Expendable Energy
Location
Former location	27°E (testing)
Current location	28.2°E
List of broadcast satellites

Astra 2A is a communications satellite owned by SES Astra. Launched in 1998, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by BSkyB, who utilised it to launch their new Sky Digital service. 21 transponders are active, as of 2006^[update], with two of these active but unused.

The satellite suffered pre-launch technical issues with its apogee motors and was moved to a launch by the Proton rocket rather than the Ariane 5, as the Proton was deemed more suitable considering the craft's precarious state. ^[1]

When positioned at 28E, it joined DFS Kopernikus 1, which served mainly Eastern Europe. The satellite was the first of Astra's craft to never carry analogue television services (with the exception of a solitary test card in 1999 ^[2]), and as of 2006, carries standard definition digital television, digital radio, and high-definition digital television, as well as Sky Interactive streams and the AVC Broadband and Silvermead satellite internet services. Two beams, both of which transmit on horizontal and vertical polarisation, exist - "2A North" and "2A South". The South beam covers almost all of Europe, with the North beam covering only Northern Europe at a high power.