Telkom delays launching of its new satellite

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)