SATRIA-1 Satellite Already In Orbit December 2023, Kominfo Prepares Supporting Infrastructure

The Falcon 9 rocket carries the SATRIA-1 satellite into the sky from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex SLC 40, Florida, USA, Sunday 18 June 2023. (ANTARA-Livia Kristianti)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi said that his party was preparing supporting infrastructure to welcome the operation of the Republic of Indonesia-1 (SATRIA-1) Satellite.

The infrastructure is a ground segment, in the form of VSAT for points receiving connectivity services from SATRIA-1 which in 2023 is set to be present at 10,000 points.

"According to the schedule, December is already in orbit, well, we continue to hope that by the beginning of next year we will be able to serve the community," Budi said at the Ministry of Communication and Information Office, Central Jakarta, Thursday, November 2, which was confiscated by Antara.

Budi said, apart from VSAT at the points receiving SATRIA-1 services, the ground segment also consists of 11 natural stations that have completed construction.

A total of 11 natural stations have been confirmed to be ready to operate with the main control center (Primary Satellite Center) and the network center (Network Operation Center) located in Cikarang, West Java (West Java).

As well as a backup control station located in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

While the rest are scattered in Batam, Pontianak, Tarakan, Manado, Kupang, Ambon, Manokwari, Timika, and Jayapura.

"Well, this is what the segment is building at the points of the recipients," said Budi.

Earlier on Tuesday, October 31, SATRIA-1 was reported to have reached its orbit at 146 degrees East Longitude (BT).

Currently, it is certain that the SATRIA-1 position is right above Papua Island with a height of more than 36,000 kilometers above the earth's surface.

The satellite is declared to reach orbit after completing the Electrical Orbit Raising (EOR) process. EOR is simply described as a mechanism when satellites use a driving system towards a predetermined orbit.

Organizers must confirm the final test results to state that the satellite is in nominal condition after the orbital phase is increased. After entering the first Final Session and Electrical Station Keeping (ESK) phase, the satellite will undergo the In-Orbit Testing (IOT) stage on November 6 to check the satellite's performance, especially for payload subsystems.