The Nusantara Lima (N5) satellite officially entered its operational phase and is now ready to be commercialized to support increasing internet service capacity and digital connectivity across Indonesia as well as materializing national space sovereignty.The Boeing-made satellite, owned and operated by private satellite operator PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the United States, on Sept. 12, on board the Space-X Falcon 9 partially reusable rocket.
A ceremony to officially start the satellite’s operation was held in Jakarta on May 11, attended by, among others, Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid, Presidential Chief of Staff Gen. (ret) Dudung Abdurrahman, Second Deputy Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Stella Christie and Boeing Satellite System International Inc. president Ryan Reid.
Meutya said that President Prabowo Subianto wanted Indonesia to be present in various contexts in international fora, not in term of geopolitics but also space.
“Currently digital connectivity has reached 80 percent of the total population connected with internet services,” she said, as quoted in a press release issued by PSN on May 13.
