Elon Musk’s Space X successfully launches a satellite that will provide high-speed internet access to schools and hospitals on the poor island of Indonesia
- SATRIA-1 – Satellite of the Republic of Indonesia – came to the sky around 6:21 PM
- The satellite is part of a $550 million project to bring fast internet to Indonesians
- CEO Elon Musk retweeted multiple videos of the rocket launch on Sunday
SpaceX launched a satellite on Sunday evening that will provide high-speed internet access to schools and hospitals on the poor island of Indonesia.
The Republic of Indonesia’s SATRIA-1 satellite – lifted off at about 6:21 p.m. Sunday from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The missiles arced east across the Atlantic before disappearing from view of the live feed.
The satellite is part of a $550 million project to bring much of Indonesia’s public infrastructure online. CEO Elon Musk retweeted multiple videos of the rocket launch.
SpaceX launched a satellite on Sunday evening that will provide high-speed internet access to schools and hospitals on the poor island of Indonesia
The 10,100-pound satellite will remain in orbit at an altitude of 22,3000 miles above the equator, according to CBS news.
SATRIA is made possible through a public/private partnership between the Indonesian government and a satellite operator, together with SpaceX.
The satellite has a throughput of 150 gigabytes per second, making it capable of delivering high-speed internet to tens of thousands of buildings in the world’s fourth most populous country.
Indonesia can be a difficult country to build high-speed infrastructure because it is a union of about 6,000 islands.
“There are still white spots,” said Danny Januar Ismawan, infrastructure director of Indonesia’s Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency. SpaceFlightNow.
‘This satellite technology is the telecommunications network par excellence. Why use a satellite? Because it’s impossible with fiber optics or terrestrial microwave technology.’
At least 94,000 schools, 50,000 village offices and many other government facilities and hospitals will be online.
“With a capacity of 150 Gbps, (SATRIA) can provide more than three times the combined national capacity currently in use,” said Adi Rahman Adiwoso, CEO of the satellite operator partnering with the country, in a statement.
The Republic of Indonesia satellite SATRIA-1 took to the skies around 6:21 p.m. Sunday from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The satellite is part of a $550 million project to bring much of Indonesia’s public infrastructure online
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk retweeted multiple videos of the rocket launch on Sunday
‘We are convinced that SATRIA can be the solution for the digital divide that still exists in Indonesia.’
Indonesia previously relied on five different domestic communications satellites and four foreign relay stations.
As Adiwoso explained, the 150 gigabytes per second is three times the 50,000 per second they had before.
SATRIA is planned to remain in operation for the next 15 years.
The satellite was SpaceX’s 41st Falcon family flight launch in 2023 and its 245th overall.
The rocket’s first stage is actually reusable once it returns to Earth.