SES Astra has revealed details of its latest contract for a new satellite, stating that it has awarded the contract for the design and construction of its Astra-3B spacecraft to Astrium.

Astra 3B will be a Ku- and Ka-band satellite designed to distribute both direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services and two-way broadband services across Europe. Astra 3B will have 52 transponders, 32 of them creating new capacity and the other 20 to replace existing in-orbit capacity. Overall it will strengthen 23.5 degrees East as the third orbital hotspot for European DTH services.

Astra 3B is expected for launch in early 2009.