On June 20, 2024, a Falcon 9 Block 5 launched the new SES communication satellite, Astra 1P/SES-24, into a geostationary orbit. The launcher and payload lifted off from the SLC-40 pad in Cape Canaveral at 21:35 UTC. The Falcon 9 Booster B1080 landed on the drone ship Just Read The Instructions after 8 minutes, while the payload was released from the second stage at 22:09 UTC.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/7GiRAsuQqB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 20, 2024
Equipped with 80 physical Ku-band transponders with bandwidth filters, the Astra 1P satellite joins the SES fleet of TV broadcasting satellites. It will orbit at 19.2°E providing service across Germany, France, and Spain into the 2040s.
At launch, the satellite had a mass of around five tons and a height of seven meters. Once its solar arrays are deployed, it will reach forty-five meters wide and generate over twenty kW of power, becoming one of the most powerful satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
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Spacebus Neo 200 platform, the bus of Astra 1P
Thales Alenia Space developed the Spacebus Neo bus to provide a state-of-the-art platform for high-throughput telecom satellites. SES opted for version 200 for two new broadcasting satellites, Astra 1P, just launched, and Astra 1Q, to be launched in 2026. The platform has already been used to build six satellites, including SES-17 for the same company.
Based on a modular concept, Spacebus Neo is a service module with avionics and propulsion modules. The payload module is mission-specific, modified each time to host the different requirements.
The 200 version of Astra 1P utilizes an electric propulsion module, based on Thales ETHM (Electrical THruster Mechanism), a device built with additive manufacturing techniques. This mechanism allows for the orientation of the electric thrusters necessary for the nominal positioning of the satellite in its final orbit on two axes. It contributes to attitude control throughout its entire life in space.
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SES SA fleet, current status, and future development
The Luxembourgish satellite communication service provider currently owns a fleet of fifty-three satellites, of which twenty-six are in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and twenty-seven in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). Astra 1P joins the Astra fleet in GEO, which is currently made of ten satellites, replacing the oldest ones that have already exceeded the expected lifetime.
In the next two years, the company plans to launch two additional satellites in GEO to continue the work of modernization and three in MEO.
In 2026, SES will launch and operate an innovative satellite in LEO, Eagle-1, in partnership with the European Space Agency. The spacecraft will host a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system built by the German TESAT to demonstrate and validate quantum key distribution technologies from low Earth orbit to the ground, providing valuable mission data for developing and deploying the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI).
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