TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - General Director for the Resources of Post and Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Informatics Technology, Ismail Akhmad says that state officials are attempting to defend Indonesia’s satellite orbital filling slot so it will not get erased.

“Once the slot is erased, it will be tough to get them back,” Ismail said on Thursday, October 27, 2016.

The threat of having our satellite orbital filling slot will be erased arose because of the failure on the launching of Telkom-3 satellite on August 7, 2012. Indonesia’s obligation to fill the slot with the Palapa-C3K satellite under international satellite regulation failed due to the Telkom-3 failure.

The preparation of a replacement satellite, which was the Telkom-3S, turned out to have needed a longer deadline compared to the preparation time determined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which was on June 6, 2016. However, the satellite is expected to be able to launch in the first quarter of 2017.

However, the 73rd Radio Regulation Board ITU trial which was held on October 17-21, 2016, has decided to not scrape the Ku-band frequency in the filling of Palapa-C3K satellite in the 118 orbital slot from Indonesia’s ownership.

Ismail mentioned that currently, Indonesia already has seven orbital slots that can be used to operate satellites. One of the slots is empty and is currently being suspended by the ITU, and another slot is filled with a nearly expired satellite.

For Ismail, the loss of an orbital satellite filling slot ownership is considered as a huge loss for the country. He could not even mention the amount of loss that Indonesia will endure if Indonesia’s satellite orbital slot reduced. “It can’t be measured (in rupiah); that is a valuable national asset.”

DIKO OKTARA