Astra 1K

ASTRA 1K was a large geostationary communications satellite built for SES to significantly expand the ASTRA direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting fleet. The satellite was manufactured by Alcatel Space (Thales Alenia Space) on the Spacebus 3000B3 platform and was designed to provide high-capacity Ku-band services for television, radio, and data distribution across Europe.

The spacecraft was launched on 26 November 2002 aboard a Proton-K / Block DM rocket. Shortly after liftoff, the Block DM upper stage failed, leaving the satellite in an unusable low orbit and was declared a total launch failure and never entered geostationary orbit.

Despite the loss, the mission influenced improvements in launch-vehicle reliability, and SES later restored capacity through replacement satellites within the ASTRA 1 fleet.