Astra 1C was the third
communications satellite placed in orbit by SES, and was originally deployed at the
Astra 19.2°E orbital position. The satellite was intended to be replaced in 2002, along with
Astra 1B, by
Astra 1K but this satellite failed to reach its intended orbit. It was eventually relieved of its remaining television/radio payloads by
Astra 1KR in 2006. In November 2006, prior to the launch of
Astra 1L to the 19.2° East position, Astra 1C was placed in an
inclined orbit and moved first to 2.0° East for tests, and then in February 2007 to 4.6° East, notionally part of the
Astra 5°E cluster of satellites but largely unused. After November 2008, the satellite operated back at 2.0° East, in an
inclined orbit. On 2 November 2011, the satellite was taken out of use as
Eutelsat, the rightholder for the 3° allocation, came on air with
Eutelsat 3A and current rules ask for a minimum of 2° separation. In the summer of 2014, the satellite was moved to 73° West, close to SES'
AMC-6 satellite, to 1.2° West, to 152° West, and to 40° West next to
SES-6. From January 2015, it was continuously moving west by approximately 5.2° per day. ==Transponders==