The Minister Of Communication And Information Calls The HBS Satellite Project Stopped

Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi in the press room at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Central Jakarta, Friday (20/10/2023). (ANTARA/Livia Kristianti)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi said the Satellite Hot Backup (HBS) satellite project is currently under construction. The decision was taken by the BAKTI Kominfo Task Force (Satgas) which is also responsible for completing the construction of 5000 Base Transceiver Station (BTS) for underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas. "Determination has been stopped. So the Kominfo Task Force (BAKTI) team thinks this needs to be stopped," Budi said at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Friday, October 20. Initially, the HBS satellite was scheduled to launch into space at the end of 2023 and was targeted to fill the orbit slot 113 East Longitude (BT). The project has been prepared since 2021 with the partner of the Nusantara Jaya Consortium as the person in charge. In practice, the US company Boeing was entrusted with the process of making its satellite, and SpaceX was again trusted to handle its launch using a Falcon 9 rocket. HBS should have a capacity of 80 Gbps and become a backup satellite if the Republic of Indonesia (SATRIA)-1 Satellite experiences problems. In its construction plan, HBS is prepared to have seven earth stations spread across Indonesia including Banda Aceh, Bengkulu, Cikarang, Gresik, Banjarmasin, Tarakan, and Kupang. The internet network produced by HBS is projected to be felt by 3700 health services such as health centers and hospitals, 3000 security service posts for the TNI and Polri to support administration, up to 47,900 government offices at the village, sub-district and sub-district levels. In the previous report, Tuesday (17/10), it was not stated that the Rp5.2 trillion project was terminated. In the report, it was stated that the BAKTI Kominfo Task Force was renegotiating with the Nusantara Jaya Consortium in providing HBS for SATRIA-1. When asked about the fate of the orbit slot which should be filled by HBS, Budi asked the media crew to ask the BAKTI Kominfo Task Force.

"The technicality is to ask the Task Force, not to me," concluded Budi.