SATRIA-1 Satellite Project Already 11 Percent, Ready To Orbit 2023

Satellite Illustration (doc. Indosat Ooredoo)

JAKARTA - The Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, stated that the SATRIA-1 multifunction satellite project has entered the construction stage. The Satria-1 satellite is targeted to be operational in the third quarter of 2023 or IV/2023 to support national telecommunications efforts.

"Financial close has been reached on March 31, 2021, currently in the construction process," said BAKTI Infrastructure Director, Bambang Nugroho, Thursday, June 24.

The construction of SATRIA-1 uses the Government Cooperation with Business Entity (PPP) scheme, with the Pacific Satellite Nusantara consortium as the winner of the tender.

The multifunctional satellite construction was built after signing the Preliminary Working Agreement between the implementing business entity, PT Satelit Nusantara Tiga, part of the consortium, and the satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space in France.

Construction is currently at 11.5 percent, according to Bambang, including a meeting with Thales Alenia Space, review of payload system requirements and service and communications module equipment qualification status review (EQSR). It is planned that SATRIA-1 will be launched using SpaceX's rocket module.

The construction of SATRIA-1, according to the project schedule, will last until 2023, or about two more years. The government has scheduled this satellite to be launched in the third quarter of 2023 and be operational by the end of the year.

The satellite financing structure consists of an equity portion (22 percent) worth US$114 million or equivalent to Rp1.61 trillion and a loan portion (78 percent) worth US$431 million or Rp6.07 trillion.

The loan portion came from the syndicated French Export Credit Bank (BPI France) and supports, among others, HSBC Continental Europe, Banco Santander and The Korea Development Bank.

President Director of PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, Adi Rahman Adiwoso, in the same event stated that next August, they will start building stations on earth to control satellites.

Last April, the Indonesian government succeeded in obtaining an orbital slot of 146 East Longitude which will be used by SATRIA-1 later, after submitting a proposal to extend the validity period of using the PSN-146E filing to the Radio Regulations Board (RBB), International Telecommunication Union (ITU).