SSC contracted to control SES ASTRA’s telecom satellite ASTRA 5
Press release from the Swedish Space Corporation
The Swedish Space Corporation contracted to control SES ASTRAs telecom satellite ASTRA 5
SES ASTRA has chosen the Swedish Space Corporation to control their telecommunication satellite ASTRA 5A, formerly known as SIRIUS 2 and operated by SES SIRIUS at the 5 degrees east orbital position. The satellite has recently been handed over to SES ASTRA and moved to 31.5 degrees east where it serves audiences in Eastern Europe and Middle East with DTH services. Since 1986, SSC has successfully operated six in-house manufactured scientific polar satellites as well as five SES-Sirius geostationary satellites. The operations services are performed from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden, which is manned 24/7.
SSCs operators have extensive experience in controlling various platforms and can quickly address changing operational needs. For customers who wish to minimise investment in infrastructure, equipment and personnel through outsourcing operations of their satellites, a cost-efficient, multi- mission approach has been applied to the development and organisation of ground control from the Esrange Space Center facility or through manning customer control centers in different locations world-wide. - We have been working with SES ASTRA since 2000 and this is the first time they contract us to take full control of one of their satellite, says Raimo Pesamaa, manager Satellite Control Service, SSC. We are very proud that they have chosen us for such an important mission, as this task is well in line with our ambition to be a first choice partner for outsourced satellite operations services.
Read more about SSC Satellite Services Read more about SES Astras satellite fleet For further information please contact Mr. Raimo Pesamaa, manager Satellite Control Services at Esrange Space Center, SSC Phone: +46 70 318 21 31 E-mail: raimo.pesamaa@ssc.se
Swedish Space Corporation – a general contractor in space and aerospace. Swedish Space designs, tests, launches and operates space and aerospace systems. Our operations are carried out within four business units located in Stockholm, Kiruna and Vidsel. At our facility in Stockholm, we develop satellites, space vehicle subsystems and payloads for sounding rockets as well as airborne systems for maritime surveillance. We also own Stockholm Teleport, a ground station for satellite communication services. At Esrange Space Center, east of Kiruna, we launch sounding rockets and balloons and from here we also operate one of the worlds busiest civilian satellite ground stations. In addition we are involved in testing various air and space vehicles through the North European Aerospace Test range – NEAT - at Vidsel Test Range, RFN.
Swedish Space owns the German company LSE, which provides engineering and satellite operation services, the Swedish companies ECAPS, which develops and manufactures "green" propulsion systems and NanoSpace, which develops micromechanical systems for space applications. Swedish Space is also a part- owner of SES SIRIUS, which distributes television and offers other telecommunication services on its SIRIUS satellites.
About SES ASTRA SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe. The satellite fleet currently comprises 13 ASTRA and two SIRIUS satellites. The combined satellite system delivers services to more than 117 million DTH and cable households and transmits a total of 2,295 analogue and digital television as well as radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With 31 High Definition (HD) channels available via its satellites today, ASTRA and SIRIUS represent the most important HDTV broadcasting platform in Europe. The prime orbital positions for ASTRA and SIRIUS are 19.2° East, 28.2° East, 23.5° East and 5° East. Read more at