The Astra 5A commercial telecommunications satellite suffered an apparently sudden "technical anomaly" that has put an end to its in-orbit service life, and the spacecraft will be moved immediately into a graveyard orbit, owner SES of Luxembourg said Jan. 16. Astra 5A is the former Sirius 2 spacecraft that was operated by SES Sirius of Sweden at 5 degrees east since its launch in November 1997. The spacecraft is a Space-bus 3000 model built by Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy. In April 2008 it was moved to SES's 31.5 degrees east location, an orbital slot that SES hopes to develop to expand its services into Central and Eastern Europe.
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