Indonesian telco Indosat is studying a US$200m plan for a new satellite to replace its Palapa D bird that is set to expire in 2020, according to a local report citing CEO Alexander Rusli.
The group plans to select a manufacturer in Q2 2015 and could use…
Indonesian telco Indosat is studying a US$200m plan for a new satellite to replace its Palapa D bird that is set to expire in 2020, according to a local report citing CEO Alexander Rusli.
The group plans to select a manufacturer in Q2 2015 and could use internal funds as well as export credit agency support, added the report.
Indosat was unable to comment.
It comes after the group scrapped plans last year to order a satellite called Palapa-E from US-based Orbital Sciences.
Palapa-E was due to replace Indosat’s ageing Palapa-C2 spacecraft at 150.5E in 2016.
However, the local government gave the rights to that orbital slot to state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), which subsequently tapped Space Systems Loral (SSL) to become the first bank in the world to order a satellite, with plans to launch it in 2016.
Indosat’s Palapa-D operates from 113E and was built by France’s Thales Alenia Space.
Indonesia’s increasingly crowded market saw satellite orders from two other companies last year.
Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), which describes itself as the country’s first private satellite telecoms company, contracted SSL in November to build PSN VI, its first fully-owned satellite, for a launch in early 2017.
That order came not long after local telecoms incumbent Telkom, which is PSN’s largest shareholder with a 24.4% stake, said it had bought a satellite from Thales to be placed at the end of 2016. Telkom is majority-owned by the state.
The operators are looking to capitalise on rising disposable incomes in the country, as well as a geography that lends itself to satellite services.
PSN had originally ordered an all-electric satellite from Boeing for a launch in 2016, before switching to SSL for undisclosed reasons. It is said to be seeking export credit agency support for its expansion plans.
