TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government has drawn up the development map for the national outer space sector for the next 25 years. Outer space development refers to other sectors like economy, national defense, and knowledge and technology resources, said Muhammad Nasir, Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education,
In the early stages of development, Indonesia will build a national observatory to monitor weather conditions and global atmosphere, as well as anticipate the development of various economic sectors such as food and industry.
Such an observatory, said Nasir, will also help the national defense sector.
Indonesia also plans to have a national scale remote sensing satellites in the next two decades. According to Nasir, Indonesia has the ability to build its own satellite. Therefore, he encourages the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) to immediately launch the satellite.
LAPAN chief Thomas Jamalludin said the institute is ready, ensuring that the satellite will be launched in the next few years. "Satellite 8A3 is being integrated," he said.
Thomas said that outer space science is closely related to a country's overall development. LAPAN's main focuses for the long term, he said, is to pursuit national development and develop outer space policies.
AMRI MAHBUB
