'Telkom-2' satellite launched
'Telkom-2' satellite launched
Agencies, Jakarta
After nine delays since November last year, the Telkom-2 satellite owned by the country's largest telecommunications company, PT Telkom, was launched on an Ariane-5 rocket in Kourou, French Guiana, on Wednesday at 6:46 p.m. local time, or Thursday at 6:46 a.m. Jakarta time.
Antara reported the launch was witnessed by State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto and the board of directors and board of commissioners of Telkom at the firm's satellite control station in Cibinong, Bogor, south of Jakarta.
An Ariane-5 rocket earlier launched the Spaceway 2 satellite -- owned by U.S. broadcast satellite company DirecTV -- into geostationary orbit 27 minutes after liftoff, the Associated Press reported. It was followed by Telkom-2 six minutes later, the news agency quoted Arianespace, the commercial arm of the 13- country European Space Agency, as saying.
The Spaceway 2 will ensure high-definition programming to U.S. subscribers and will expand standard-definition programming, while Telkom-2 will expand satellite communications in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, Arianespace said. Combined, the two satellites have a weight of 8,000 kilograms.
The Telkom-2 satellite cost US$170 million and will have a lifespan of 15 years. It replaces the Palapa B4 satellite whose lifespan expired in May 2003, Antara said.
From 24 transponders on the Telkom-2 satellite, 18 have been subscribed to while the remaining six will be offered with annual rental fees of $1 million.
Because of its geography, Indonesia is highly reliant on telecommunications satellites.
"Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands and 220 million inhabitants," Garuda Sugardo, Telkom's vice president, told Reuters after the launch. "We cannot cover this territory with land lines or cable."
The launch of the two satellites was postponed twice last week because of technical problems at the launch center.
The launch was the fourth this year for Arianespace. It marked the 168th Ariane mission since the European launcher first began operating in 1979.