The communication satellite was launched at 6:21 p.m. Sunday local time or 5:21 a.m. Jakarta time. The launch was delayed about 15 minutes from the designated schedule of 6:04 p.m.
The reusable rocket Falcon 9, owned by American-based private spacecraft manufacturer and launcher company Space X, was utilized to launch the satellite.
The first phase of the launch concluded by 6:30 p.m., less than 10 minutes from the liftoff time.
The second phase, when the SATRIA-1 satellite was released into space, was ongoing as the rocket continued its journey to its designation release point.
After going online and orbiting at 146 degrees east longitude, the satellite will provide internet for the Indonesian people living in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions.
According to a 2023 study conducted by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics' Telecommunication and Informatics Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), the SATRIA-1 satellite will have a capacity of 150 Gbps.
It will provide equal internet access to 50 thousand public facilities in 3T regions. The internet speed at each public facility served is expected to reach four Mbps, increasing from the earlier one Mbps for each point calculated in 2018 during the start of the SATRIA-1 satellite project.
In addition to SATRIA-1, the ministry will launch Hot Backup Satellite (HBS) in the third quarter of 2023.
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Translator: Livia Kristianti, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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