ASTRA 1L Successfully Launched

SES ASTRA successfully launched the ASTRA 1L satellite last Friday. The satellite will be located at 19.2 degrees east longitude and will provide broadcast services, including transmission of HDTV signals, to continental Europe. After extensive in-orbit testing, the satellite will be available for commercial use in early July 2007.

Ferdinand Kayser, president and CEO of SES ASTRA, said, "We are very proud and satisfied that the ASTRA 1L launch has been a success. ASTRA 1L will allow us to move our satellite ASTRA 2C from 19.2 degrees east to 28.2 degrees east to fulfill the high capacity demand from the U.K. and Irish markets. It will also extend the coverage from the Canary Islands in the West to the Russian border in the East and help us to further strengthen our unique in-orbit back-up scheme. The success of the ASTRA 1L launch therefore is a milestone for SES ASTRA and shows that we have strengthened the fruitful cooperation with our launch partners, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems who built the satellite and Arianespace who was responsible for the launch."