Indonesia Reviews Its Satellite Communications at Boeing, SpaceX

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Johnny G. Plate visited the United States to review the progress of the hot backup satellite (HBS) for Indonesia at Boeing, SpaceX, and the Hughes Network System.

“We will use HBS to provide backup support to mitigate any risks that may occur to the SATRIA-1 satellite,” State News Antara quoted the president director of BAKTI (Telecommunication Accessibility Agency) at the ministry Anang Latief on Monday, July 25.

“In addition to having the main function as a backup for SATRIA-1, the provision of HBS aims to increase Internet speed and improve user experience,” Latief added.

Boeing will be responsible as a satellite manufacturing company for the hot backup satellite (HBS) project, he informed. SpaceX will provide a rocket launcher for the HBS, and the Hughes Network System will provide broadband solutions for the High Throughput Satellite (HTS) technology used by HBS.

Also read: Indonesia Navy Arrests Foreigners Suspected of Spying

Latief said that the HBS project has been running since October 19, 2021, when BAKTI carried out a procurement based on the regulation of the president director of BAKTI No. 4/2021 on procedures for the procurement of goods/services for the provision of hot backup satellite for digital transformation.

The HBS program is on target and has entered the construction phase in 2022, with the estimated time of launching into orbit being the first quarter of 2023, Latief said.

It is hoped that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the satellite would be able to operate to serve the community.

Latief also said he hopes that the satellite would be able to provide equal access and connectivity to the Indonesian people.

“With satellites, remote points can be reached easily and evenly. Satellite technology complements various signal and Internet access infrastructure facilities that have been built by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, such as high-speed Internet backbone networks and thousands of 4G BTS (base transceiver stations) in the outermost, underdeveloped, and frontier (3T) areas,” he added.

Also read: Indonesia Establishes Three New Provinces in Papua

In addition to visiting Boeing, SpaceX, and Hughes Network System, Minister Plate also met with representatives from communications and other technology industries such as Qualcomm, Cisco, Maxar, and Meta during his visit.

Accompanying the minister were officials from the ministry, including director general of resources, postal equipment, and information technology (SDPPI) Ismail and director general of information and public communication (IKP) Usman Kansong.