Telkom delays launching of its new satellite

JAKARTA (JP): The launch date of the new Telkom-1 satellite owned by state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom has been rescheduled to the first half of July this year, the European space launcher Arianespace said on Tuesday.

Arianespace's director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Richard Bowles, said it was delayed because the co-passengers satellite, the U.S. based WorldSpace's AsiaStar, was not ready.

"Telkom-1 is actually ready and so is our launch vehicle Ariane 504. We are only waiting for AsiaStar..."

He said Arianespace could not proceed with the lift off without AsiaStar because it is supposed to be a shared-launch as Ariane 504 has the capacity to launch two satellites at the same time.

He said Arianespace had organized two possible co-passengers for Telkom-1, the AsiaStar and the European Union Telecommunications Satellite. However, the latter was not likely to be ready sooner than AsiaStar.

Bowles declined to divulge the reason behind the delay of AsiaStar.

"Arianespace provides only the launch services, not satellite services. It is not infrequent, however, for satellites to be delayed," he said, adding that no penalty was imposed on AsiaStar's manufacturer in regard to the delay.

Telkom's executive director A.A. Nasution confirmed the delay, emphasizing that it was not as a result of any Telkom shortcomings.

"The satellite is supposed to be launched on April 27. It (the delay) is not our fault. It does not cost us anything."

He said the delay was not caused by Telkom's overdue payment to Arianespace or the satellite maker, U.S. firm Lockheed Martin Communications Inc.

His statement was confirmed by Arifin Nugroho, Telkom-1 satellite project program manager, who said Telkom had paid about 80 percent of the total cost.

Arifin said the Telkom-1 project is worth US$191.4 million, comprising a $84.6 million satellite contract with Lockheed Martin, a $90.1 million launch contract with Arianespace, a $15 million insurance package with Indonesian insurance firm Jasindo and $1.6 million in consultancy services with Canadian Telesat.

According to Nasution, the entire funding was derived from Telkom's own capital.

"It is the first time for us (that we have been able) to finance our investment with our own funds. Previously we had to acquire it from loans," he said.

Arianespace signed in April 1997 the deal with Telkom to launch the Telkom-1 satellite using an Ariane 504 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Telkom-1 will be the third Indonesian satellite launched by Arianespace, after Palapa C2 in 1996 and Indostar in 1997.

The new satellite will replace the Palapa-B2R, which is due to end its service life in mid 2001.

The satellite, weighing 2,632 kilograms at lift off and carrying 24 C Band transponders and 12 Extended C Band transponders, would operate for up to 17 years at its orbital location of 108.0 degrees east.

Arifin said Telkom-1 would be fully prepared for commercial operations in September 1999 and would cover countries in the Southeast Asia region and northern parts of Australia.

He said the satellite would provide various telecommunications services, including multimedia and high speed Internet via satellite, satellite telephone network and news gathering, analog or digital broadcasts and backbone transmission.

The satellite has been ready to launch since February and is currently in storage in Lockheed Martin's base in Sunnyvalle, U.S., he said.

The delay in schedule until July caused no harm for either the satellite or Telkom.

"It is still tolerable. In fact, I consider it as a blessing in disguise, as we will have more time between now and then to re-check all aspects of the satellite to make sure that everything is perfect."

He said Telkom was fully aware a launch delay could happen due to a range of factors, including bad weather and electronic malfunction.

"It (the delay factor) could be caused by any party involved in this shared-launching process. It could have happened the other way around, that AsiaStar should delay its launch to wait for Telkom-1 to be ready for lift off."

The launching of Telkom-1 and AsiaStar will be Ariane 504's first commercial launch service.

Arianespace, which claims to have captured 50 percent of the world market, has launched 157 of its total 197 launch orders booked since establishing itself in 1980.

The company's order book now stands at 39 satellites plus one constellation launch, worth approximately $3.9 billion.

Telkom has two satellites in operation, the Palapa-B2R and Palapa-B4. (cst)