Jakarta. Indonesia on Monday morning Jakarta time officially launched its Satria-1 satellite from the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. 

The satellite took off using Space X's Falcon 9 rocket about 17 minutes later than planned. Indonesia initially planned on sending the satellite off into orbit at 6.04 p.m. on Sunday local time or 5.04 a.m. on Monday Jakarta time. 

Indonesia partners with French-Italian firm Thales Alenia Space to construct the Satria-1 satellite. According to Bakti Kominfo acting executive director Arief Tri Hardiyanto, Thales Alenia Space will make sure that the satellite runs smoothly after the launch.

"Hopefully, all of the devices on Satria-1 can run smoothly, be it the solar cell and antenna. We hope we can control it from the ground station," Arief was quoted as saying in a press statement on Monday.

The multifunction satellite is now moving towards the 146°BT orbit right above the Papuan island. It is expected to reach orbit this November. 

Satria-1 is the government’s first multifunction satellite equipped with a 150-gbps capacity. Indonesia claims that the Satria-1 satellite has the largest satellite capacity in Asia.

In an earlier statement, acting Communications Minister Mahfud MD said that the satellite would help provide internet access in Indonesia's remote areas unreachable by fiber optics.

“I would like to counter critics who said that Satria-1 is useless due to the lack of ground networks related to the ongoing 4G-BTS [base transceiver station] graft investigation at the Attorney General’s Office,” Mahfud said.

“The Satria-1 functions to distribute access to the internet evenly for education, health, and public service purposes and for the National Police and the Indonesian Military in the outermost areas,” he said.

Satellite provider Satelit Nusantara Tiga and the PSN consortium are taking part in this megaproject under a public-private partnership. Satelit Nusantara Tiga reported that the investment for the satellite, including its rocket and ground station, totaled $540 million.

The Satria-1 satellite has a lifetime of 15 years.

Add as a preferred source on Google +