Palapa-C1 satellite ready for launching
Palapa-C1 satellite ready for launching
By I. Christianto
COCOA BEACH, Florida (JP): Palapa-C1, the first of Indonesia's new generation of telecommunication satellites, is ready to be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, tomorrow at 7:50 p.m. (Feb. 1 at 7:50 a.m., Indonesian Western Time Zone).
Palapa-C1, which will replace the Palapa-B2P satellite at 113 degrees east longitude, is owned and will be operated by PT Satelindo, one of the country's private telecommunications providers.
Satelindo's general manager for corporate relations, Iwan Krisnadi, said here yesterday that the launching of the satellite largely depends on four aspects: the readiness of the satellite, the readiness of the launch vehicle, the readiness of the satellite owner's master control station and the weather throughout the launch schedule.
"Hughes of the United States, the manufacturer of Palapa-C1, said that the satellite is Ok for launching, while Satelindo and American Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the satellite's launch vehicle Atlas IIAS, have also OK'd the launch plans," he said. "So the launch readiness will depend on the weather."
Iwan said he was optimistic that the launch would be successful because the weather report said that it would be partly cloudy but not raining on Wednesday.
He said there will be a review of the launch readiness today, which will involve executives from Satelindo, Hughes and Lockheed as well as a weather advisor.
The launching, he said, will involve a panel consisting of Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave as the advisor of the Palapa-C1 launching mission and Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja as a senior mission director.
"On the launching day, Minister Joop will be ready at Satelindo's controlling station in Daan Mogot, West Jakarta, while Djakaria will be in Cape Canaveral," he said, adding that the panel in Cape Canaveral will also include Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Arifin Siregar as the host of the mission and Satelindo's director of satellites, Sahala Silalahi, as the mission director.
Sequence
According to Iwan, the launching, to be carried out by the International Launch Services, will receive the "go" or "no go" command from Sahala.
"The launching mission will depend by about 80 percent on the weather. If the speed of the wind exceeds 23 knots, or if there's cloud which may cause threatening thunder, the mission will be postponed until the following day."
He said that strong wind might change the vehicle's direction, while thunder might cause a blast.
Iwan said that there will be three major events in the Palapa- C1 launch sequence.
"First is liftoff, second is the spacecraft separation which will occur about 30 minutes after the launch, and third is when Satelindo's controlling station in Jakarta receives a Palapa-C1 signal about 60 minutes after the launch."
Indonesians will witness the three events through live transmissions by the state-owned TVRI, he added.
Palapa-C1 is expected to reach its orbit and to be in service on March 23 after a seven-day traffic transfer from Palapa-B2P's control station in Cibinong, West Java.
Satelindo, set up in 1993 to provide various telecommunication services, is 45 percent owned by a subsidiary of the Bimantara Group, a conglomerate chaired by one of President Soeharto's sons, 25 percent by DeTeMobil, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom of Germany, 22.5 percent by PT Telkom and 7.5 percent by PT Indosat. The last two firms are state owned. Besides operating satellites, Satelindo also runs international and digital cellular telecommunications services.
The Palapa-C series are set to replace the current B series operated by Telkom.
The lessees of Palapa-C1 transponders include mostly television broadcasters from Indonesia and other countries within the Asia-Pacific region, which are currently using Palapa-B2P transponders.
The satellite, with a lifespan of about 14 years, has 34 transponders.
Satelindo has invested about US$400 million in Palapa-C1 and Palapa-C2. Palapa-C2 will be launched by France-based Arianespace in April.