Indonesia's Palapa-C1 launching rescheduled<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is lobbying the European Space
\nAgency to have French Arianespace launch Indonesia's Palapa-C1
\nsatellite as originally scheduled.<\/p>\n
PT Satelindo's Director of satellite systems, Sahala Silalahi,
\nsaid that the Palapa-C1 was originally scheduled to be brought to
\nFrench Guiana this August, from where it would be launched into
\norbit in October or November.<\/p>\n
Sahala, Iwa Sewaka, Satelindo's president and Adi R. Adiwoso,
\nSatelindo's commercial director, visited Arianespace last week to
\ndiscuss the Palapa-C1 launching schedule.<\/p>\n
\"But Arianespace set new launching schedules for several
\nsatellites after the French company failed in two launchings last
\nyear,\" informed Sahala.<\/p>\n
According to the new launching schedules, the Palapa-C1 will
\nbe launched in May 1996, instead of October or November this
\nyear, Sahala added.<\/p>\n
Satelindo, which operates the domestic satellites as well as
\ninternational and digital cellular telecommunications services,
\nis 60 percent owned by PT Bima Graha, a subsidiary of the widely-
\ndiversified Bimantara Group, 10 percent by PT Indosat and 30
\npercent by PT Telkom, both state-owned companies.<\/p>\n
Since taking over the satellite business from state-owned PT
\nTelkom, Satelindo has managed the Palapa-C generation.<\/p>\n
In January last year, Ariane's flight 63 failed to launch its
\n44LP rocket, which was carrying two satellites, the Turksat-1A
\nand the Eutelsat-2. The rocket plunged into the Atlantic Ocean,
\ncausing a loss of about US$356 million to insurers.<\/p>\n
Last December, Ariane's flight 70 also malfunctioned and
\nfailed to launch Panamsat, a $150 million satellite owned by the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
It was the seventh failure since the consortium commenced its
\nprogram 15 years ago. Arianespace is made up of France's
\nAerospatiale, Britain's Aerospace, the Netherlands' Fokker Space
\nand Systems and Germany's Deutsche Aerospace.<\/p>\n
Due to the incidents, Arianespace has rescheduled Palapa-C1's
\nlaunching to May 1996, while the ISO satellite will be launched
\nin its place in October or November this year, Sahala said.<\/p>\n
ISO is a scientific satellite owned by the European Space
\nAgency (ESA) grouping 12 European countries, including France,
\nBritain, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain and Germany.<\/p>\n
Sahala said that the capacity of the Palapa-B2P, the satellite
\ncurrently in orbit and soon to be replaced by the Hughes-built
\nPalapa-C1, will get weaker later this year. The transmission
\nquality of the broadcasting services that lease the Palapa-B2P's
\ntransponders will also not be optimum.<\/p>\n
The coverage of the Palapa-B2P, orbiting at 113 degrees east
\nlongitude, is limited to southeastern Asia, while the Palapa-C1
\nwill cover a wider area including Hong Kong, Myanmar, Cambodia,
\nVietnam, Macau, New Zealand and eastern Australia.<\/p>\n
The Palapa-C1, with a lifespan of about 14 years, has a total
\nof 34 transponders, 28 of which will be operated by Satelindo,
\nwhile six others will be managed by PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.<\/p>\n
More than 21 parties have agreed to lease Palapa-C1's
\ntransponders. Among the coming lessees are broadcasting firms
\nfrom the United States, Australia, France, Malaysia, New Zealand
\nand the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Currently there are 13 countries leasing Palapa-B2P's
\ntransponders at about $1.2 million per unit.<\/p>\n
Iwa Sewaka said that the government wanted the Palapa-C1 to be
\nlaunched in October or November 1995, its original schedule, and
\nfor its backup satellite, the Palapa-C2, to be launched six
\nmonths after should anything go wrong with the Palapa-C1 launch.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know yet whether Satelindo will hold an open tender
\nor make a repeat order to the same company to launch Palapa-C2,\"
\nhe said. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesias-palapa-c1-launching-rescheduled-1447893297",
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