The past week has been a busy period in Russian spaceflight, and at last the final launch of 2014 for Roscosmos is to be conducted. The launch of the ASTRA 2G satellite aboard a Proton rocket will take place at 21:37 UTC on the 27 December. The six tonne satellite will be delivered to geostationary orbit at an inclination of 28.2 degrees east by the Briz-M upper stage on the Proton rocket.
ASTRA 2G is the third spacecraft of a three satellite investment program (ASTRA 2E, 2F, and 2G) that SES contracted with Airbus Defence and Space in order to provide replacement as well as incremental satellite capacity in the orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees East. ASTRA 2G carries 62 Ku-band transponders as well as 4 Ka-band transponders. The different beams aim to provide wide coverage over the UK and Ireland, Europe and West Africa.
The ASTRA 2G satellite will also support SATMED, an e-health platform conceived by SES. SATMED is a satellite based communication solution aimed to improve public health in emerging and developing countries.
The launch had originally been planned for late November, but due to on-pad problems with regard to the rocket, the launch had to be pushed back to late December instead.
www.ilslaunch.com will provide launch coverage from 10 minutes before liftoff of the Proton rocket carrying ASTRA 2G.
ASTRA 2G is the third spacecraft of a three satellite investment program (ASTRA 2E, 2F, and 2G) that SES contracted with Airbus Defence and Space in order to provide replacement as well as incremental satellite capacity in the orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees East. ASTRA 2G carries 62 Ku-band transponders as well as 4 Ka-band transponders. The different beams aim to provide wide coverage over the UK and Ireland, Europe and West Africa.
The ASTRA 2G satellite will also support SATMED, an e-health platform conceived by SES. SATMED is a satellite based communication solution aimed to improve public health in emerging and developing countries.
The launch had originally been planned for late November, but due to on-pad problems with regard to the rocket, the launch had to be pushed back to late December instead.
www.ilslaunch.com will provide launch coverage from 10 minutes before liftoff of the Proton rocket carrying ASTRA 2G.