Astra 1N

Astra 1N is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES and is positioned at the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot. It was launched in 2011 and is the fourth satellite to be built for Astra by Astrium and the 46th SES satellite in orbit, and entered commercial service at 28.2°E on 24 October 2011.

The satellite was originally designed to provide digital television and radio broadcast services across Europe from the Astra 19.2°E position, in particular the German, French and Spanish markets, alongside the Astra 1KR, Astra 1L, and Astra 1M satellites already operating there. At launch, Astra 1N was instead temporarily positioned at 28.2°E to replace Astra 2D and provide capacity for the UK and Ireland, including the Sky and Freesat DTH platforms, prior to the launch of Astra 2E and Astra 2F to this position in 2013 and 2012, respectively. All traffic on Astra 2D was transferred to Astra 1N in early 2012 (as of February 2014, Astra 2D remains at 28.2°E but is inactive).