SES Astra SA was a corporate subsidiary of SES, based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg, that maintained and operated the Astra series of geostationary communication satellites between 2001 and 2011.Formed in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), it was Europe's first private satellite operator. When SES acquired GE Americom in 2001 and was renamed SES Global (reverting to SES in 2006), the portion of the company responsible for the Astra satellites became a subsidiary named SES Astra. In September 2011, SES Astra and sister subsidiary SES World Skies were merged back into SES S.A. for the company to operate with a single management system, and subsidiaries of SES Astra, such as HD Plus and ASTRA Broadband Services became direct subsidiaries of SES. The brand name, Astra, representing the satellite family and the broadcasting system continues to be used and, although the corporate website (www.ses-astra.com) was closed when SES Astra was consolidated into the parent, the consumer site (www.OnAstra.com) remains in operation.A book, High Above, telling the story of the creation and development of Astra, SES, and SES Astra, and the history of recent developments of the European TV and media industry, along with their context in the wider development of broadcasting and space technology, was published in April 2010 to mark the 25th Anniversary of SES.