Satria Indonesian Telecommunications Satellite Activities

JAKARTA/TOULOUSE: Satelit Nusantara Tiga (SNT) and Thales Alenia Space, a Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announced Sept 3 the signing of a Preliminary Work Agreement to start the activities of the broadband telecommunication satellite SATRIA.

Thales Alenia Space, acting as prime contractor for this programme, initially signed on July 2019 for a consortium* led by the domestic satellite operator Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) on behalf of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo), will deliver the High Throughput Satellite (HTS)  based on its Spacebus NEO full electric platform and fitted with a fifth-generation  digital processor (5G).

The company will also be in charge to provide two satellite control centers (main and backup), the telecommand and telemetry stations, and the ground mission segment linked to the fully processed payload. In addition, Thales Alenia Space will put in place a complete training programme for PSN engineers, where part of them will join the project team as residents in Cannes and Toulouse during the duration of the programme.

The full Ka-band SATRIA satellite, to be positioned at 146°E, will carry more than 150 gigabits per second over the full Indonesian territory. Dedicated to narrow the digital divide, SATRIA has the ambition to connect around 145,000 areas including 90,000 schools, 40,000 hospitals and public buildings as well as regional government sites not linked by existing satellite or terrestrial infrastructure. The satellite will contribute to the digital infrastructure developments in Indonesia.

“We are particularly honoured to reach this important milestone with the beginning of the industrial activities for the SATRIA program, first HTS telecommunication satellite in Indonesia and the most powerful one over the Asian region”, declared Hervé Derrey, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “SATRIA will take benefit of all the expertise already developed by Thales Alenia Space on its Spacebus NEO platform as well as on its HTS payloads.”

“With a capacity of 150 Gbps, the satellite can provide more than three times the combined national capacities that are currently in use. We are confident that SATRIA can be the solution to the digital gap that still exists in Indonesia,” said Adi Rahman Adiwoso, CEO of PSN.

The Consortium PSN has formed Satelit Nusantara Tiga (SNT) to be operating company to carry on the project. The shareholders of SNT are PSN, PT Pintar Nusantara Sejahtera (Pintar), PT Nusantara Satelit Sejahtera, and PT Dian Semesta Sentosa (subsidiary of PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa Tbk). PSN and Pintar are the majority shareholders of SNT and both will maintain majority ownership in the operating company throughout the project lifetime.

Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the parent companies’ Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of services. –shp/iz/mgm

Photo copyrights: ©Thales Alenia Space – ©Thales Alenia Space/Master  Image Programmes