With its constellation of Astra spacecraft, Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) of Luxembourg is delivering analog as well as digital television and radio services across Europe. Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC) was building a series of Hughes 601 and Hughes 601HP body-stabilized model spacecraft for SES in its facilities in El Segundo, Calif.

SES placed the order for Astra 1E in 1992; for Astra 1F in 1993.

Astra 1F was the first western satellite launched on a Proton-K Blok-DM3 rocket, on April 9, 1996.

The Hughes' HS-601 satellite was designed for the higher-power missions of the 1990s. The model was introduced in 1987 to meet anticipated requirements for high-power, multiple-payload satellites for such uses as direct television broadcasting to small antennas, mobile communications, and private business networks.

The Astra satellites are similar in appearance to other HS-601 models, with each having a cube-shaped body and two solar array wings oriented along its north-south axis and the antennas located on the east-west axis.