On the heels of the news that that the latest pair of SES O3b/mPOWER satellites were successfully launched comes confirmation that its latest craft, Astra 1P, has been brought into service over Europe and serving 118 million TV homes.

Following its successful in-orbit raising and performance testing, Astra 1P will now start serving public and private broadcasters, sports organisations and content owners.

Astra 1P is SES’s most powerful wide-beam satellite to broadcast from the 19.2 degrees East TV neighbourhood. Equipped with 80 transponders, Astra 1P can support hundreds of HD channels.

“With Astra 1P now fully operational, we are setting a new standard for satellite broadcasting in Europe,” said Milton Torres, CTO of SES. “This new offering will enhance our ability to deliver premium content with superior reliability and image quality to 118 million TV households. This includes sports and events content, where we are seeing growing demand from viewers, as well as sports leagues, teams, federations and rights holders.”

Built by Thales Alenia Space, Astra 1P was successfully launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on June 20th 2024 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTH/Satellite, Services

Tags: Astra, SES, Thales Alenia Space