Astra 1E

Astra 1E is one of the Astra communications satellites in geostationary orbit owned and operated by SES. It was launched in 1995 to the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot initially to provide digital television and radio for DTH across Europe. Astra 1E was the first Astra satellite to be dedicated to digital TV broadcasting and it carried many of the first digital TV channels from networks broadcasting to France, Germany, and other European countries in the 1990s. The satellite originally provided two broadcast beams, of horizontal and vertical polarisation, for FSS (10.70-10.95 GHz) and for BSS (11.70-12.10 GHz) frequency bands. The FSS beams provide footprints that cover essentially the same area of Europe – northern, central, and eastern Europe, including Spain and northern Italy – while the BSS horizontal beam excludes Spain and extends further east, and the BSS vertical beam includes Spain and more of southern Italy but does not extend so far east. Within the footprints, TV signals are usually received with a 60–80 cm dish.