Astra 2D
| Operator |
SES Astra SES S.A. |
|---|---|
| SATCAT № | 26638 |
| Mission duration | 12 years |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | HS-376 |
| Manufacturer | Hughes |
| Launch mass | 1,420 kilograms (3,130 lb) |
| BOL mass | 824 kilograms (1,817 lb) |
| Power | 1,600 watts |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 19 December 2000 |
| Rocket | Ariane 5G V138 |
| Launch site | Kourou ELA-3 |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Geosynchronous |
| Longitude | 24°E (2001, testing) 28.2°E (2001-2015) 5.2°E (2015) 57°E (2015-) |
| Slot | Astra 28.2°E (2001-2015) |
| Perigee | 35,788 kilometres (22,238 mi) |
| Apogee | 35,797 kilometres (22,243 mi) |
| Inclination | 1.96 degrees |
| Period | 1436.11 minutes |
| Epoch | 25 January 2015, 05:01:56 UTC |
| Transponders | |
| Band | 16 Ku band |
| Bandwidth | 26 MHz |
| TWTA power | 39 watts |
| EIRP | 53 |
Astra 2D is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, and located at 28.2° east in the Clarke Belt till June 2015. It is a Hughes HS-376 craft, and was launched from the Guiana Space Centre in December 2000 to join Astra 2A and Astra 2B at 28.2°E, where it remained for its active life.
As of February 2013, Astra 2D has carried no regularly active transponders.
While active, most of Astra 2D's transponders were used to provide television channels available on the Sky Digital satellite service to both Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as the non-subscription service, Freesat. Provision of rights-sensitive broadcasts Free to air was made possible by the satellite's beam that was tightly focused on Ireland and the United Kingdom. However, surrounding countries had the ability to pick up the signal (dependent on suitably sized satellite dishes) and so could still access Freesat from outside the UK. Some channels on 2D were encrypted with Videoguard (a proprietary encryption method by the NDS Group) and only Sky Digiboxes with valid cards, or standard hardware with non-approved (with respect to the Sky/NDS end-user contract) "Dragon", or "T-Rex" conditional-access module can decode these channels.
The BBC broadcast all of its domestic television channels (including BBC HD and the regional variations) from the Astra 2D satellite, except the BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament which broadcast from Astra 2A. All domestic BBC channels have been free to air since 29 July 2003.
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