According to Jakarta Globe, Indonesia is set to launch the Satria-1 satellite on Monday in a bid to provide high-speed internet connections for better public services.
Acting Communications Minister, Mahfud MD told a press briefing earlier this week that “the satellite is expected to help provide internet access to remote areas that are unreachable by fiber optic technology over the next 10-years.”
Satria-1 will focus on connecting schools, hospitals, sub-national government offices, police and military to the fast internet. The satellite, however, will start operating in January 2024 as it takes around 145-days for it to reach the correct orbit, and will have a lifetime of 15-years, say Jakarta Globe.
The megaproject runs on a public-private partnership that involves satellite service provider Satelit Nusantara Tiga and PSN consortium.
Adi Rahman Adiwoso, the executive director at Satelit Nusantara Tiga said the initial costs had overrun by USD 90-million, bringing the total investment to USD 540-million.
Indonesia will launch the 150-gbps satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launcher from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. French-Italian aerospace firm Thales Alenia Space constructed the satellite which Indonesia claims to be the largest in Asia from a capacity standpoint, say Jakarta Globe.
Source: Jakarta Globe
