Astra 1A

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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/19688

  • Communications satellite
  • ASTRA 1A
  • NORAD 19688
  • 1988-109B
  • Inclined geosynchronous

Current orbit

Where Astra 1A is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
View on live map

Orbit began over the Central African Republic

Orbit ends over Chad

Sunlit since

Enters the Earth’s shadow

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches Astra 1A go over, but a receiver still asks whether it is above the horizon. Say where you are and this card answers.

Your position is rounded to about a kilometre and sent only to the Orbinauts API, to find the pass.

No brightness has been published for Astra 1A, so it is not a naked-eye satellite and no city page carries pass times for it. Nothing here estimates one.

Seeing it

There is nothing to go outside for: it is too faint for the naked eye. What reaches you from it reaches a dish or an antenna, not an eye.

Timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source

Summary

Over the Democratic Republic of the Congo LIVE

Where is Astra 1A?

At 6:21:07 PM UTC Astra 1A was over the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5.8° S, 19.3° E), 36,393 km up, moving at 3.05 km/s and in sunlight.

What is Astra 1A?

A communications satellite in an inclined geosynchronous orbit, in space since Dec 11, 1988.

Can I see Astra 1A?

No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Astra 1A, and nothing here estimates one; the dishes and receivers on the ground use its signals instead.

General

Operator
Soci\'et\'e Europeene des Satellites, Luxembourg
State
Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of
Built by
GE Astro Space, East Windsor
What it is
Communications satellite
Launched
Mass
977 kg
Operating
Orbit class
Inclined geosynchronous

From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, what it is for, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.

Latest orbital data

Position received
6:21 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
6:21 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
5.8° S, 19.3° E
Altitude
36,393 km
Speed
3.05 km/s (10,984 km/h)
Course
north
Light
In sunlight until 10:25 PM UTC
Inclination
14.9°
Orbital period
1,464.3 minutes
Orbits per day
0.98
This orbit
36,281 to 36,395 km
In shadow
39 minutes of each orbit
In view from
Within 7,960 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 7:38 AM, 10 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 7:38 AM, 10 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for Astra 1A, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
No close approach to Astra 1A has been reported publicly in the past thirty days.

From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 8, 2026, 1:11 PM, 3 hours old. Only approaches serious enough to be reported publicly are listed: within three days and, for two bodies near the Earth, closer than a kilometre with a chance of a collision above 1 in 10,000, the level at which NASA moves the ISS.

See every close approach reported in orbit.

Launched with

Astra 1A shares its launch, 1988-109, with 13 other bodies the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
SKYNET 4BCommunications satellite
ARIANE 44LP R/BRocket body
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris
ARIANE 44LP DEBDebris

Read from the international designators of the US catalogue: the year and the launch number every piece of one launch shares. A body that has come down is no longer listed.

Beside the others

SatelliteTypical altitudeOrbital periodMassIn space since
Astra 1A36,281 to 36,395 km1,464 minutes977 kg1988
Hispasat 30W-635,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 6.1 t2018
Amazonas Nexus35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 4.1 t2023
ARSAT-135,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 3 t2014
Astra 1N35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 5.3 t2011
Hotbird 13F35,786 to 35,786 km1,436 minutesabout 4.5 t2022

Data and API

The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 7:38 AM, 10 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "ASTRA 1A",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1988-109B",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T07:38:35.363904",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 0.98339967,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.00132749,
  "INCLINATION": 14.8552,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 4.9317,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 148.726,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 30.2208,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 19688,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 11750,
  "BSTAR": 0,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": -0.0000013,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}