The Astra satellites at 28.2° East provide for services downlinking in the 10.70–12.70 GHz range of the Ku band.
The satellites at the Astra 28.2°E position primarily provide digital TV, digital radio and multimedia services to the UK and Republic of Ireland, broadcasting more than 470 TV, radio and interactive channels to homes in the UK and Ireland.
[4] The majority of these channels broadcast as part of British Sky Broadcasting’s Sky Digital pay-TV platform or the free-to-air Freesat platform, and they include free-to-air and encrypted high definition television (HDTV) channels.
The first craft to occupy this position was Astra 1D, relocated from Astra 19.2°E in March 1998 to provide capacity for testing UK digital TV transmissions before the start of Sky Digital (originally slated for June 1998 but then delayed until October 1998).
Sirius 3, from Nordic Satellite AB (later, SES Sirius then incorporated in SES) was leased to SES immediately after its launch on October 5, 1998, for a period of 12 months (after which it was moved to its original destination of 5°E) to provide further capacity at 28.2°E for the expanding Sky Digital service and to back up Astra 2A, pending the launch of Astra 2B on September 14, 2000.
[13] On September 28, 2012, Astra 2F was successfully launched from Kourou in French Guiana.
[14] The satellite underwent tests at 43.5°E[15] and began commercial operations at 28.2°E on November 21, 2012.