Jakarta. Telkom Indonesia's Merah Putih satellite reached its launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Thursday (26/07).

"The Merah Putih satellite has successfully reached its destination from Space Systems Loral [SSL] at Palo Alto, California, to its launch site in Cape Canaveral. The satellite is due to depart toward its orbit slot at 108 degrees east longitude on Aug. 4, according to the official statement we received from SpaceX, which is launching the satellite for us," Telkom vice president of corporate communications Arif Prabowo  said in a statement.

Arif added that SSL managed to manufacture the satellite ahead of schedule. The Merah Putih satellite took two-and-a-half years to complete.

"The manufacturing of this satellite required the help of two American companies, SSL to help develop it, and SpaceX to launch it. Next, the satellite will be launched into its orbital slot using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket," Arif said.

The Merah Putih satellite is set to bolster Telkom's infrastructure, which previously relied only on the Telkom-2 and the Telkom 3s satellites. The newest addition will have a capacity of 60 active transponders, which will cover Indonesia, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

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