Indonesia’s SATRIA-1 successfully launched to orbit over Papua Island

Indonesia’s satellite SATRIA-1 was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, the United States of America, on Sunday (June 18) local time, and will go an orbit of 146° East Longitude, right above Papua Island, to support the acceleration of national digital transformation.

 

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Republic of Indonesia Satellite (SATRIA-1) was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, the United States of America, on Sunday (June 18) local time, and will then go through an orbit of 146° East Longitude, exactly over Papua Island.

“Praise to God Almighty, the launch went well. This is a very great achievement and the success is due to the prayers of all the Indonesian people,” Acting President Director of the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Arief Tri Hardiyanto said in a press release, Monday.

The launch of SATRIA-1 was delayed 17 minutes from the earlier schedule at 18.04 local time. However, the launch is still in the time window.

Arief explained, after the launch, SATRIA-1 will be monitored by Thales Alenia Space to ensure all devices function properly.

“Hopefully all the devices on SATRIA-1, such as solar cells and antennas, can work well, and can be controlled from the Earth station,” he said, adding that after that SATRIA-1 will go through an orbit of 146° East Longitude, above the country’s mosteastern area of Papua Island.

“Hopefully all the stages will run smoothly until (SATRIA-1) occupy its orbit in November 2023,” he said.

SATRIA-1 has been launched with the Falcon 9 rocket owned by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX). This satellite is Indonesia’s first multifunctional satellite and has the largest capacity in Asia.

Indonesia’s satellite SATRIA-1 is expected to support the acceleration of digital transformation in the archipelagic country.

Reporting by Indonesia Window