Tim Furniss/LONDON
MATRA MARCONI SPACE (MMS) has broken a virtual monopoly by Hughes Space and Communications by being awarded half of a contract from Luxembourg's Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES) to supply the new-generation Astra 2A and B digital television and radio direct-broadcast satellites.
The $100 million MMS deal breaks a sequence of Hughes Astra contracts, from the Astra 1C to 1H. The Astras 1A and B were built by the former GE Astro Space, now part of Lockheed Martin. SES provides 61 million households with services from six co-located Astra 1A-F satellites.
The Hughes Astra 2A will be launched in August 1997 into a new SES geostationary orbital (GEO) position of 28.2ûE, to increase transmission capacity to meet growing demand from users of direct-to-home services, with dishes as small as 500mm diameter.
The launch by an Ariane will be one of the three firm bookings which SES made with Arianespace in May (Flight International, 15-21 May, P23). The other is the Astra 1G, to be launched in 1997.
The Astra 2A will be equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders, to be operational for five years, reducing to 28 operational transponders for the remainder of the spacecraft's 15-year design life.
It is an upgraded HS-601 High Power (HP) model, similar to the Astra 1G and H, but will also have a xenon-ion propulsion system for orbital control, in addition to the HP-standard gallium-arsenide solar panels, which will generate 6kW of power. The Astra 2A is the 63rd HS-601 spacecraft to be ordered since 1987.
Hughes is negotiating a strategic partnership with SES, which could include the provision of the Hughes Spaceway multimedia and DirecTV satellite services into European sites.
MMS' Astra 2B will also be located at 28.2ûE in GEO, providing 30 Ku-band transponders for the first five years, with 28 thereafter. The contract with SES calls for delivery in 27 months - compared with the 13-month schedule claimed by Hughes - and includes an option for another satellite.
The 7kW Eurostar 2000 spacecraft is the ninth to be ordered in nine months and the 22nd of the Eurostar family. It will be compatible with either an Ariane or Proton launcher (Flight International, 24-30 April, P19).
MMS is to introduce an Eurostar 3000-series spacecraft, which will be capable of generating up to 16kW to provide power for mobile-communications services. The spacecraft will weigh 4,000kg, with a payload mass of 1,000kg.
The company is seeking partners to launch a new, $750 million GEO communications-satellite system for Africa, Europe and the Middle East, called the EAST, which will use Eurostar 3000 craft.
In addition to the Astra 2A contract, Hughes is to modify the Astra 1H satellite it is building for SES, to include a two-transponder Ka-band payload to launch services for point-to-point interactive applications across Europe.
The Astra 1H, like the 1G, will be placed into the original 19.2ûE GEO location, in 1998. Its launcher has not been selected.
Additional reporting by Gilbert Sedbon in Paris.
Source: Flight International
