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Sirius (satellite)

set of communications satellites

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 6, 2024
Entity authorityQ4348862
Source-derived summary

Sirius was a constellation of communications satellites operated at 5.0° East in geostationary orbit (GEO) by NSAB (later SES Sirius, and now a non-autonomous part of SES, owner and operator of the Astra satellites). They carried digital satellite television to the countries of Scandinavia, Baltic states, Eastern Europe and Africa, including the Viasat pay TV system, along with several pay TV packages for Eastern Europe, the TopTV package for Africa, a number of Ukrainian channels and the national Latvian and Lithuanian channel service free-to-air.

Satellites

Sirius 4

A fourth satellite, Sirius 4, was ordered in 2005 and launched at 22:39:47 UTC on 17 November 2007. It carries 52 active Ku-band transponders and two active Ka-band transponders. Sirius 4 was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems based upon the A2100AX design.

Among the services carried are Viasat and Viasat Ukraine which has used the Sirius satellites for their digital platform since its launch.

Sirius 4 was renamed to Astra 4A in June 2010, when the SES took full ownership and control of SES Sirius.

Sirius 5

Sirius 5 was the original name of the SES-5 satellite. SES-5 that was launched in July 2012 and is now co-located with Astra 4A (Sirius 4) at 5.0° East. This satellite provides a similar European and African coverage as Astra 4A. When ordered by the SES Sirius AB of Sweden in October 2008, the name of the satellite was Sirius 5.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sirius (satellite)” as set of communications satellites. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2005, 2007, 2010, 2012—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Sirius, satellite and communications can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as set of communications satellites. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 6, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q4348862. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Sirius (satellite)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Sirius (satellite) primary sources, Sirius (satellite) archive and Sirius research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sirius (satellite)”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Sirius (satellite)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.