Report: SpaceX Launches Satellite in Indonesia to Increase Internet Accessibility
On Monday, Indonesia and SpaceX, the rocket company owned by Elon Musk, successfully launched the country’s biggest telecommunication satellite from the US. The $540 million initiative aims to connect remote areas of the archipelago to the internet.
About two-thirds of Indonesia’s 280 million people already use the Internet, but connections are limited in the Southeast Asian country’s remote, underdeveloped eastern islands.
“Satellite technology will accelerate internet access to villages in areas where fiber cannot reach in the next 10 years,” said Indonesia’s senior minister Mahfud MD in a statement ahead of the launch.
The 4.5-tonne Republic of Indonesia satellite (SATRIA-1) was built by Thales Alenia Space and launched into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, then returned to an offshore area in a precision landing.
The satellite occupies an orbit above Indonesia’s East Papua region. It has a capacity of 150 gigabytes per second and will provide Internet access to 50,000 public service points, the Indonesian government said.
The project is a public-private partnership between the government and Indonesian satellite service provider PT Satelit Nusantara Tiga.
