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ITU grants extension for Satria satellite launch
The International Telecommunication Union has given Indonesia seven more months to place the Satria satellite in orbital slot 146°E lest the country have to launch an expensive substitute or the ITU give the slot to another country.
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T
he Communications and Information Ministry has secured seven more months to place the nationally strategic Satellite of the Republic of Indonesia (Satria) on orbital slot 146°E, located above Papua.
Minister Johnny G. Plate said the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) granted the deadline extension on April 1, which gives Indonesia until October 2023 to place a spacecraft within the slot. The initial deadline was March 2023.
“This extension does not change the satellite launch and commercial operational date, which is still set for the fourth quarter of 2023,” he said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Johnny said the extension would save Indonesia US$9 million on a satellite floater, which is a ready-to-launch space object that would secure the slot until Satria is ready to launch.
Previously, Indonesia requested the ITU give a 14-month deadline extension to use the slot as the Satria faced a manufacturing delay as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ITU can give the orbital slot to another country should Indonesia fail to fill it in time.
Read also: RI to delay satellite launch, cites COVID-19 disruption
Johnny announced in November that the Satria satellite would be launched in the fourth quarter of 2023 instead of March 2023 as initially planned because the pandemic had affected Satria’s procurement and production. He called the disruption a case of “force majeure”.
At the same time, the government is preparing to move the location of the satellite to other available slots, a practice known as backup filling, in case there is an even longer delay in the satellite launch.
Satria, with an estimated investment of $550 million, is to be the country’s biggest satellite with a throughput capacity of 150 billion bits per second (Gbps).
Read also: RI takes giant leap forward in $550m 'Satria' satellite project
The satellite 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.
