Astra 1
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Astra 1 is the common name for the group of SES Astra satellites located at 19.2° East in the Clarke Belt. It is one of Europe's two major satellite positions, the other being Hot Bird at 13° East. The first craft to serve this location was Astra 1A, launched in 1988.
Historically, the position served almost all of central and northern Europe, with 13E serving southern Europe, and 28.5E serving eastern Europe. However, demands for increased capacity have led to most services targeting the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia to move to other orbital positions, leaving 19E as the main location for German channels, as well as carrying a large quantity of Polish, Spanish, French and Czech services. Premiere, UPC Direct, CanalSat and other providers solely supply services from 19E, with Digital+ mirroring services there and on Hispasat. The worlds first commercial Direct Broadcast Satellite service, Sky Television, began from Astra 1A in 1989, although it left the position in 2001 with the final withdrawal of its analogue services.
The position has the highest concentration of Ku band analogue channels remaining, with in excess of 40, mostly German language services remaining. It is also the only position to have ever carried radio stations in the propreitary Astra Digital Radio format, which also continues to this day.
