Palapa is a series of

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

s owned by

Indosat PT Indosat Tbk, trade name, trading as Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, abbreviated as IOH, is an Indonesian telecommunications provider which is owned by Ooredoo Hutchison Asia, a joint venture between Ooredoo and Hutchison Asia Telecom Group (a part ...

, an

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n telecommunications company (formerly by Perumtel and then by PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia/Satelindo). The first satellite was launched in July 1976, at which time

became the first developing country to operate its own domestic satellite system. The estimated cost for the project was US$1 billion (equivalent to $ in ).

History

The first satellite, Palapa-A1 of , was launched on 8 July 1976 at 23:31

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

from the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

by a Delta 2914

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

, or at 06:31 Indonesian Time on 9 July 1976. Palapa-A2 was launched on 10 March 1977. The name "Palapa" was bestowed by then Indonesian president

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

, after the

Palapa oath The Palapa oath () was an oath taken by Gajah Mada, a 14th-century Prime Minister of the Javanese Majapahit Empire described in the ''Pararaton'' (Book of Kings). In the oath, Gajah Mada swore that he would not rest as long as he had not succeede ...

sworn by

Gajah Mada Gajah Mada (c. 1290 – c. 1364), also known as Jirnnodhara, was a powerful military leader and '' mahapatih''In full '' Mahapatih Hamengkubumi'', equivalent to the position of prime minister. of the Javanese empire of Majapahit during th ...

, the Prime Minister of

Majapahit Majapahit (; (eastern and central dialect) or (western dialect)), also known as Wilwatikta (; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island o ...

Kingdom, in 1334. According to the

Pararaton The ''Pararaton'' (''Book of Kings''), also known as the ''Katuturanira Ken Angrok'' (''Story of Ken Angrok''), is a 16th-century Javanese historical chronicle written in Kawi language, Kawi (Old Javanese). The comparatively short text of 32 f ...

(Book of Kings), Gajah Mada swore that he would not taste any ''palapa'' (historians suggest it refers to spice or a kind of flavouring) as long as he had not succeeded in unifying Nusantara (the Indonesian archipelago). After watching the launching of the satellite via television in Jakarta, President Suharto revealed his reason on naming the satellite "palapa"; to show that Indonesia had a glorious past, and also hope that the system could unite the archipelago. Palapa-B1 was deployed by the

STS-7 STS-7 was NASA's seventh Space Shuttle mission, and the second mission for the Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. During the mission, ''Challenger'' deployed several satellites into orbit. The shuttle launched from Kennedy ...

shuttle mission on 18 June 1983. Palapa-B2 was launched from

STS-41-B STS-41-B was NASA's tenth Space Shuttle mission and the fourth flight of the . It launched on February 3, 1984 and landed on February 11, 1984, after deploying two communications satellites. It was also notable for including the first untethere ...

on 3 February 1984, to be put into service afterward, but the perigee kick motor (also known as the

Payload Assist Module The Payload Assist Module (PAM) is a modular upper stage designed and built by McDonnell Douglas (Boeing), using Thiokol Star-series solid propellant rocket motors. The PAM was used with the Space Shuttle, Delta, and Titan launchers and carried ...

, or PAM) on the satellite failed during its approach to geosynchronous orbit, placing it at an improper and inoperable

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

. It was retrieved on 16 November 1984 by the STS-51A mission of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

, where it was brought back to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. The Space Shuttle mission to retrieve Palapa-B2, as well as the Westar-6 satellite which shared the launch

payload Payload is the object or the entity that is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of t ...

with Palapa-B2, was partially funded by the

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

companies (led by

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

) which insured the launch of those two satellites. Palapa-B2P was launched on 20 March 1987. Palapa-B2 was renamed as Palapa-B2R and relaunched on 13 April 1990. Palapa-B4 was launched on 14 May 1992. Palapa-C1 was launched on 1 February 1996, followed by

Palapa-C2 Palapa-C2 was an Indonesian communications satellite which reached its target orbit on 16 May 1996. It was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (now Boeing Satellite Development Center) for Indonesian telecommunications provider P ...

on 16 May 1996. The

Palapa-D Palapa-D was an Indonesian geostationary communications satellite which was operated by Indosat Ooredoo. It was built by Thales Alenia Space, based on the Spacebus, Spacebus-4000B3 satellite bus, and carries 35 C band (IEEE), C-band and 5 Ku ban ...

satellite was manufactured by

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...

and launched aboard a Chinese

Long March 3B The Long March 3B (), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on ...

launch vehicle on 31 August 2009. However, it failed to reach the intended orbit following a failure of the third stage of the launch vehicle to reignite as planned. The

Spacebus Spacebus is a satellite bus produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in France by Thales Alenia Space. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary communications satellites, and seventy-four have been launched since development started ...

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

was maneuvered into the correct geosynchronous orbit by September 2009, but this left it with only enough fuel for 10 years in orbit. This US$200 million satellite (equivalent to $ in ) has more

transponders In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

than its predecessors (40 transponders, Palapa-C2 only has 36). Sixteen (40%) of its transponders are used by Indosat for their own purposes while the other 24 (60%) are rented to others. Indosat used Palapa-D for their broadband internet service (IM2) with

Ku-band The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally ), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band ...

technology (12/14

GHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

). At the end of October 2009, Palapa D started its airing operations.

Lighthouse project

The Palapa project was one of the " Lighthouse projects" instituted during the New Order period to build national pride. Other lighthouse projects during the New Order included transport infrastructure, the

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (; formerly Taman Mini "Indonesia Indah" with apostrophes—abbreviated as TMII) is a culture-based recreational area located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. Since July 2021, it is operated by InJourney Destination Managem ...

theme park and the country's national aircraft company. Most of these involved extravagant inauguration ceremonies with the officials who oversaw the projects in the spotlight. At the inauguration ceremony of the Palapa satellite system, President Suharto used a switch with 17 jewels (17 August is the date of Indonesia's Proclamation of Independence) in the shape of a traditional dagger (

kris The kris or is a Javanese culture, Javanese asymmetrical dagger with a distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although ma ...

). Besides symbolizing national unity and concretely helping to unite the country by serving its purpose as communication infrastructure, the satellite also tied advanced technology to Javanese tradition as epitomized by the inauguration ceremony.

References

External links

Palapa B1, B2, B2P, B2R, B4 / Palapa Pacific / Agila 0 / NewSat 1
��Gunter's Space Page

at Boeing

{{Indonesian Space Program, state=open 1976 establishments in Indonesia Communications in Indonesia Communications satellites Space program of Indonesia Cultural depictions of Gajah Mada

History

Lighthouse project

See also

References

External links