Indonesia needs satellites because it consists of several islands and it has diverse geographical contours, where it will be very difficult for a terrestrial communication system to cover the entire territory. Satellites can overcome things that can become obstacles to terrestrial telecommunication systems whether it is time, distance or content complexity. With satellites, remote areas can easily have the same communication system as those in cities and can connect with other areas more quickly.
Indonesia itself has used this technology since the launch of the Palapa A1 Satellite on July 8th, 1976 from the Kennedy Space Center. With the launch of this satellite, Indonesia became the third country to start operating the Domestic Satellite Communication System. This satellite facilitates communication in Indonesia through telephone and facsimile services. As the first Indonesian satellite, the Palapa A1 Satellite plays an important role in the distribution of communication media in Indonesia.
The next satellite that was launched by Indonesia is the Palapa A2, which was launched on March 11th, 1977. This satellite is the successor to the Palapa A1 which ceased operation in 1985. After the Palapa A2, Indonesia launched Palapa B1 on June 16th, 1983, which was launched by the STS 7 rocket. This satellite ceased operating in 1990 and after that, there is the Palapa B2P satellite launched by the Delta 6925 rocket on March 21st, 1987. This satellite’s service period ended in 1996.
The next one is Palapa B2R which was launched on April 13rd, 1990. The service period of this satellite ended in 2000. Next is Palapa B4, whose it’s a term of service ended in 2005. This satellite was launched on May 14th, 1992. Then, Indonesia’s seventh satellite was Telkom 1 that was launched by the Ariane 4 rocket on August 12nd, 1999. This satellite service period ended in 2006. The next one is Telkom 2 satellite which was launched on November 16th, 2005. Until now, it’s still operating. After Telkom 2, there is Telkom-3S was launched on February 15th, 2017 by Ariane 5 ECA. This satellite was made by Thales Alenia Space and the owner is Telkom. This satellite was launched from Kourou, French Guiana to replace the lost Telkom-3 Satellite that failed to reach orbit in August 2012 due to a Russian Proton rocket fault. The next satellite is Telkom 4 that was launched from the United States to replace the Telkom-1 Satellite. It was launched on August 7th, 2018. Telkom 4 has 60 transponders, far more than the previous satellite (36 transponders will be leased for domestic needs and 24 transponders marketed for India). This satellite also uses satellite broadband technology which can transmit access with twice the capacity of the previous satellites and the coverage of this satellite service can reach the ASEAN and India areas.
After that Indonesia launched Nusantara 1 satellite on February 22nd, 2019. Nusantara 1 has Hight Throughput Satellite (HTS) technology and became Indonesia’s first broadband satellite that will support PSN’s Ubiqu and Sinyalku products. And there are still many satellites that have been successfully launched by Indonesia.
Source
Primus, Josephus. 2017. Delapan Satelit yang Pernah Diluncurkan Indonesia. https://tekno.kompas.com/read/2017/01/30/08590077/delapan.satelit.yang.pernah.diluncurkan.indonesia?page=all (accessed on the 17th February, 2021).
Arief, Irvin Avriano. 2019. Inilah 25 Satelit Milik Indonesia dari Waktu ke Waktu. https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20190224152921-4-57317/inilah-25-satelit-milik-indonesia-dari-waktu-ke-waktu (accessed on the 17th February, 2021).
