Astra 1K is in a circular orbit at an altitude of 290 kilometersmiles), "where it can be safely sustained to allow the engineering teams to assess the status of the satellite and appropriate actions in due course", SES Astra said in a press release.

SES Astra is part of Luxembourg-based world satellite operator SES Global, whose 29 satellites transmit more than 1,100 television and radio channels, as well as Internet and multimedia, around the world.

1K cost SES Astra some 280 million dollars (euros) but the programme has "full insurance coverage" and the launch failure on Tuesday will not affect existing services as another satellite, Astra 2C, can provide backup, the statement said.

The Astra fleet comprises 13 satellites that are already in orbit but there is 20-percent surplus capacity at the moment, the statement said.

1K was to have been placed in geostationary orbit in a slot 36,000 kilometres (22,370 miles) from the earth.

This orbital ring is coveted by telecoms operators, as a satellite there travels around the planet in 24 hours, which means it stays in the same spot relative to the earth's position all the time.

A satellite in this position can broadcast to or receive signals directly from the "footprint" it covers, without the signals having to be expensively relayed by ground stations or other satellites.

On Tuesday, experts said it was possible to use the satellite's own propulsion system to boost it into orbit but that would require an increased use of fuel and this would reduce the satellite's expected lifespan of 13 years.

Another theoretical option, depending on technical and financial factors, is to have the satellite recovered by the US space shuttle.

The shuttle has done this several times, notably retrieving an Indonesian satellite, Palapa B2, in November 1984, nine months after it was sent spinning into the wrong orbit by a launch failure. Palapa B2 was later relaunched as Palapa B2R.

SPACE.WIRE