Mahfud MD Says SATRIA-1 Launch Reaches All Of Indonesia, Especially 3T Region

Screenshot of press statement of Acting Minister of Communication and Informatics (Menkominfo) Mahfud MD regarding the launch of SATRIA-1, Monday/ANTARA

JAKARTA - The acting Minister of Communication and Informatics (Menkominfo) Mahfud MD emphasized that the launch of the Republic of Indonesia Satellite 1 (SATRIA-1) will open an era of digital connectivity through equal distribution of internet access in Indonesia.

"Indonesia's first internet satellite is for equal distribution of internet access, especially for education, health, public services, the community, to the TNI/POLRI," said Mahfud MD in a press statement in Jakarta, Antara, Monday, June 19.

Mahfud said SATRIA-1 would cover all regions of the country, especially in disadvantaged, frontier and outermost (3T) areas. The SATRIA-1 launch project was not affected by the BTS 4G corruption case being handled by the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung).

"It has nothing to do with the BTS case because this is a separate project to provide public services," he said.

As is known, SATRIA-1 has successfully launched into space at 18:21 local time from Cape Canaveral Space Lauch Complex 40 (SLC 40), Florida, United States.

After successfully launching, the satellite will later fill an orbit at 146 East Longitude (BT).

After being at 146 degrees East Longitude (BT), PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) together with Thales Alenia Space (TAS) will carry out In-Orbit Testing to ensure that the SATRIA Satellite device functions normally after launch. This stage is expected to take three weeks.

The next step is for PSN to carry out the In-Orbit Acceptance Review (IOAR). The IOAR review will be carried out in the first week of December 2023.

The public is expected to be able to take advantage of SATRIA-1's internet capacity in stages starting in January 2024.

Based on the latest study by BAKTI Kemenkominfo in 2023, SATRIA-1 with a capacity of 150 Gbps will provide internet services at 50,000 points of public facilities.

Internet speed at each public service point is projected to reach 4 Mbps, this speed has increased from the initial calculation in 2018 when the SATRIA-1 project was initiated which carried a speed of 1 Mbps for each point.