SIRIUS (satellite)

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SIRIUS is a constellation of geostationary satellites operated by SES SIRIUS operating from 5° East in the Clarke Belt. They carry digital satellite television to the countries of Scandinavia, including the Viasat pay TV system.

SIRIUS 2 and SIRIUS 3 currently operate from this position. 2 has always operated from 5E, however 3 was leant to SES Astra at its launch as a backup for Astra 2B at 28.2E, which was believed to be seriously faulty on launch. A fourth satellite, SIRIUS 4, was ordered in 2005, and will carry a massive 46 transponder active payload.

A previous SIRIUS satellite, SIRIUS 1 (later SIRIUS W) was purchased from BSkyB after Sky Television's merger with British Satellite Broadcasting (the merger was conducted on Sky's terms and BSB's satellites were sold in favour of Sky's leased Astra satellite operations). The satellite had previously operated as Marcopolo 1. It operated at 5 East from 1994 until 2000, when it was moved to 13 West. It operated here before being dumped to graveyard orbit in 2003.

The SIRIUS satellites are not to be confused with the satellites used for the American Sirius Satellite Radio service, which has their satellites named Radiosat 1-4, due to them being launched after the SIRIUS fleet of satellites.