“COVID-19 has affected Satria’s procurement and production,” Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate said during a press briefing on Monday, calling the disruption a “force majeure.”

As a consequence of the projected delay, the government has requested the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to give a 14-month deadline extension for Satria to use its assigned 146°E orbital slot, located around Papua Island, by 2023. ITU can grant another country use of the position should Indonesia fail to fill the slot in time.

However,  the ITU is still in discussion to grant the request, while in the meantime, requiring the lead contractor and operator of the project, PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) consortium, to provide more information about the cause of the delay, according to Johnny.

The government has also prepared a plan in case there is even a longer delay in the satellite launch, Johnny said. It has prepared to either put in a satellite floater – a ready to launch space object, to secure the 146°E orbital position until Satria is ready to launch, or to move the location of the satellite to other available slots, a practice known as backup filling.

The satellite, with an estimated investment of US$550 million, is envisioned to boost connectivity inclusion in the country upon its launch, providing free internet to 150,000 public facilities, including schools, regional government offices and health facilities.

The latest Indonesian Internet Providers Association (APJII) survey shows that the country’s internet penetration rate rose to 73.7 percent in 2019 from 64.8 percent in 2018. 

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