Palapa's unifies the archipelago

Palapa's unifies the archipelago

PT Satelindo invited I. Christianto of The Jakarta Post to
witness the launching of the Palapa-C1 from Cape Canaveral,
Florida, on Jan. 31. The following are his reports on competition
in the spacecraft business and other satellite-related matters.

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia entered the era of satellite-based
telecommunications 27 years ago when President Soeharto
inaugurated the operation of telecoms technology using a
satellite belonging to the International Telecommunications
Satellite Organization (Intelsat) on Sep. 27, 1969.

Seven years later, on July 9, 1976, Indonesia launched its
first satellite, the Palapa-A1, from Cape Canaveral, USA.

The name Palapa was taken from Sumpah Palapa, an oath
made by Gajah Mada, the leader of the 14th century Majapahit
kingdom. In 1331, the Majapahit were facing chaos from rebels in
Sadeng, East Java. They were finally eliminated by top leaders of
the kingdom including Gajah Mada, who said upon victory: "Lamun
huwus kalah Nusantara isun amukti palapa, lamun huwus kalah ring
Gurun, ring Seran, Tanjungpura, Haru, Pahang, Dompo, Bali, Sunda,
Palembang, Tumasik, Samana isun amukti palapa."

(When I have succeeded in integrating the archipelago, I shall
rest. When Gurun, Seran, Tanjungpura, Haru, Pahang, Dompo, Bali,
Sunda, Palembang and Tumasuk are united, I shall rest.)

In the ancient Javanese language, amukti means to enjoy or to
rest, while palapa means the fruit of an effort. Sumpah Amukti
Palapa can be defined as Gajah Mada's pledge to not rest until
the archipelago was united.

Indonesia, which lies between 95 degrees and 141 degrees east
longitude, has more than 17,000 islands. A telecommunications
satellite is crucial to its unity.

Since the lift-off of the Palapa-A1 in 1976, about six
centuries after Gajah Mada made his pledge, Indonesia has
launched six more satellites.

The Palapa-A2 was launched by a Delta rocket from Cape
Canaveral on March 10, 1977, less than a year after the launching
of the Palapa-A1. The Palapa-A series consisted of two
satellites.

Indonesia entered the Palapa-B generation in 1983. It ordered
four spacecraft for the Palapa-B series, called the Palapa-B1,
Palapa-B2P, Palapa-B2P and Palapa-B4.

The Palapa-B2P, which replaced the Palapa-B2, was launched in
February 1984 by a space shuttle. However, the spacecraft did not
reach its proper orbit due to failure of the perigee kick motor.
Indonesia then ordered the Palapa-B2P (P stands for Pengganti,
meaning substitute), which was launched in March 1987. Meanwhile,
in November 1984, a space shuttle crew recovered the Palapa-B2
and returned it to Earth for the insurance underwriters. The
satellite was refurbished and sold back to Indonesia. The
spacecraft, renamed the Palapa-B2R (R means refurbished) was
relaunched in April 1990. The last of the Palapa-B type, the
Palapa-B4, was launched in May 1992.

Both the Palapa-A and the Palapa-B generation satellites were
manufactured by Hughes of the United States. The two Palapa
satellite generations are operated by the state-owned domestic
telecommunications provider PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom).

Meanwhile, the Palapa-C generation is operated by PT
Satelindo.

Indonesia is currently operating three satellites, the Palapa-
B2R, Palapa-B4 and Palapa-C1.

HSC

Like its predecessors in the Palapa-A and Palapa-B series, the
Palapa-C spacecraft is also manufactured by the Hughes Space and
Communications Company (HSC) of the United States. PT Satelindo,
a private firm, has also appointed Hughes to build the first two
satellites of the planned three Palapa-C series.

The company is one of the leading satellite manufacturers in
the world. HSC designed and built the world's first synchronous
communications satellite in 1963. Two years later, the company
marked its first commercial satellite launch.

HSC has been a major supplier of communications satellites for
countries like Australia and Mexico, both with large areas and
scattered populations, and Indonesia with its vast archipelago.
HSC claims that more 40 percent of all operational commercial
satellites in orbit today were built by the company.

The association between Indonesia and HSC started in 1975,
when HSC began the Palapa-A satellite program after winning the
Indonesian government's contracts for the construction of two
spacecraft, control and earth stations.

The Palapa-A, the HS-333 type, was a 12-transponder satellite
with an average capacity of 6,000 voice circuits or 12
simultaneous color television channels or any combination of the
two.

The seven-year-life satellite was 11-feet, two-inches high
(including antenna) and six-feet three-inches in diameter. The
shaped-beam antenna was a solar transparent five-foot parabolic
dish.

Meanwhile, the Palapa-B satellite, the HS-376 model, has two
telescoping cylindrical solar panels and an antenna that folds
for compactness during launch. The antenna is erected and the
outer solar panel extended after the satellite is in orbit.

The 24 transponders on the spacecraft are each capable of
carrying 1,000 two-way voice circuits or a color television
transmission. In addition, the Palapa-B satellite carries six
spare traveling-wave tube amplifiers, providing a five-to-four
redundancy.

The Palapa-B satellites operate in the C-band, receiving from
5.92 GHz to 6.41 GHz and transmitting from 3.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz.
The satellites use 10-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers.

The Palapa-C, the third generation of the country's satellite
system, is superior to the earlier Palapa-A and Palapa-B series
in terms of coverage, power and flexibility.

Meanwhile, each of the Palapa-C spacecraft, another version of
the HS-601 body-stabilized satellite, has 34 transponders,
including 24 of C-band, six of extended C-band and four of Ku-
band.

Southeast Asia

The Palapa-C, with a lifespan of about 14 years (plus two
years in inclined orbit), will cover not only Indonesia but also
Southeast Asia, parts of China, India and Japan. With the Pacific
Rim as its center, the Palapa-C1 coverage extends westward from
Iran to Vladivostok and Southward to Sydney and New Zealand.

All transponders of the Palapa-C1 have been booked by 26
parties, mostly television broadcasters, from eight nations. The
lessees of Palapa-C1, who have to pay leasing fees ranging
between US$1.6 million and $3 million per year for one
transponder, include the American news channel CNN, the ESPN
sports station, and entertainment networks HBO, Viacom and
Discovery, Asia Business News, NBC Asia, Canal France
International and Turner Far East Asia. The other users are from
Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Indonesia's state-owned television network, Televisi Republik
Indonesia (TVRI), the country's five private television networks
and the Ministry of Defense are also on the list.

Satelindo, the Palapa-C series owner and operator, is likely
to earn US$60 million per year if all of the 30 C-band
transponders are leased under long-term contracts. The Palapa-C1,
expected to operate until 2010, is worth about $190 million.

Apart from the Palapa-C1's lessees, Satelindo expects
telecommunications providers to lease the Palapa-C2 for its
derivative services of data, voice, image and video
transmissions.

Satelindo also plans to adopt the digital compression
television system, the next wave in technology.

The number of satellite operators in the Asia-Pacific region
has increased significantly in the last few years, creating a
stiff rivalry.

In addition to the Palapa-C series in the Asia-Pacific, there
are Intelsat, AsiaSat, Apstar and Panamsat, Optus and JCsat
satellites. The names are, so far, the major players in the
regional market for broadcasting.

In the 1995-2005 period, 40 satellites will be launched as
replacements and more than 50 more will be launched as extensions
of existing systems.

By early next year, there will be 1,680 communications
satellite transponders available in the Asia-Pacific region. The
number of transponders will reach 2,360 in the following three
years.

Meanwhile, the load factor of each satellite provider in the
region reached 90 percent in 1995, with fewer figures for several
operators due to higher leasing fees.

The margin between transponder demand and supply will range
next year between 26 percent and 32 percent. Meanwhile, the
demand for transponders is expected to increase in 2000, when
more users will look for additional transponders and more
efficient digital compression. The country's Palapa-B and C
satellites will offer about 134 transponders in 2000.