Indonesia Explores Low Earth Orbit Satellite

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the government is exploring the latest telecommunication technology, the low earth orbit satellite, in a bid to spur digital transformation.

Airlangga underlined that digital transformation requires adequate telecommunication infrastructure, such as satellites and fiber optics.

“There is a new technology named the low earth orbit satellite for an archipelagic country like Indonesia. This is being explored and is needed globally because this infrastructure is easier to launch given the available providers,” said Airlangga in an online event on Monday, November 22.

However, Airlangga emphasized the need for calculating economic factors to apply the earth observation satellites. He hoped that it would boost equal opportunities to access technology throughout the country.

Airlangga said digitalization requires faster internet. The low orbit satellite thus could be part of future needs for economic infrastructure.

The technology was also expected to be the next disruption. “This (satellite) will be the next megatrend or disruption where people need reskilling or retraining to meet digitization needs,” Airlangga remarked.

The Indonesian government has already designed the roadmap and pushed for digital infrastructure. On this basis, Indonesia must be able to take advantage of the low earth orbit satellite communication system to expand more affordable communication services to remote areas. This technology is also expected to overcome the digital divide.

Read: Indonesia Accentuates Digital Transformation-Expediting Strategies

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