Russia close to using Biak island as satellite launching base

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 05/17/2006 12:35 PM

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia is moving closer to signing an agreement with Russia, paving the way for a Russian satellite station on Biak island, Papua province.

Both countries' officials have already agreed on all technical aspects of the agreement. Indonesia recently placed an order for a squadron of Russia's most advanced jet fighters. So far two Sukhoi Su-27s and two Su-30s have been delivered.

Foreign Ministry director for Central and Eastern Europe affairs Hazairin Pohan said the draft of the master agreement on outer space between Indonesia and Russia had been completed, and would be discussed at a ministerial level meeting in June before being signed.

Hazairin, however, could not confirm whether the signing would take place during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Russia this year.

""The master agreement will open the door for a private-to-private deal on the establishment of a commercial satellite launching base on Biak island. Russia has finished conducting a feasibility study and has submitted a proposal for the project. The final agreement on the launching pad is hoped to be signed in two months,"" he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Biak is off the northern coast of Papua, 3,200 kilometers northeast of Jakarta. The province, formerly known as Irian Jaya, occupies the western half of New Guinea island.

Indonesia has several U.S.-made telecommunication satellites but they were all launched from Kourou in French Guiana.

Hazairin said the project, which will have an initial investment of some US$120 million, was very real and concrete, as demand for satellites launches was very high.

It was reported earlier that Russia's Air Launch Aerospace Corporation would start building the project in 2007.

Hazairin said the satellite launch base would offer prices 40 to 50 percent lower than those currently charged.

The station would have many advantages over its competitors, he said.

The island was chosen because it is close to the equator, where rockets can take advantage of the Earth's greater rotational speed. An equatorial location translates into fuel savings and bigger payload carrying capabilities.

According to earlier calculations made by Indonesia's National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), an aerospace vehicle needs a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second to orbit the earth. However, if it is launched from an equatorial region, it only needs 7.4 km per second.

LAPAN also said a rocket launched from the equatorial region could carry a load that is 25 percent heavier than those launched elsewhere.

""Biak island is the best place on earth for a satellite launching station as it is the closest to space,"" Hazairin said.

Beside receiving tax revenue from the station, Indonesia would aim for a transfer of aerospace technology from Russia, he added.

Previously, Biak Regent Yusuf Maryen said the local government had prepared 27 hectares of land for the project.

Biak already houses a Telemetry Tracking and Command ground station of the Indian Space Research Organization, currently operated by the Indonesian state Space and Aviation Agency.

The government has been promoting the use of Biak as the site of a space launch center since the 1960s.

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