Indonesia's spaceport plan fires up ambitions

Indonesia's dream of developing a space industry came one step closer recently when the government announced its intention to build a spaceport on the island of Biak off the northern coast of Papua.

Professor Thomas Djamaluddin, head of Indonesia's national space agency LAPAN, said it has always been "Indonesia's dream to become one of the space-faring nations of the Asia-Pacific region".

LAPAN, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, was established in 1963. Among its many ambitious goals today is to manufacture and launch small rockets and satellites from a domestic spaceport by 2040.

Several sites for the spaceport were looked at along the archipelago, but Biak won out due to its proximity to the equator. Also, the eastern part of the island faces the Pacific Ocean－seen as ideal in case launches have to be aborted in flight.

The planned new spaceport will help Indonesia master the technology and operations for satellite launches, said Djamaluddin.

"We (Indonesia) can already make our own satellites, but the next stage is to have the capability to launch them from our own spaceport using our own rockets," he said.

LAPAN is in talks with Papua's Cenderawasih University to undertake an environmental impact study of the proposed site, he told the Indonesian news service Antara last month. "We are also talking with provincial and district governments to see if there is any opposition to the project," he said. "It is hoped we can have all of this tied up sometime in the new year, and that we can begin development in the later part of 2020."

Djamaluddin said he hoped to see the first stage of construction completed by 2024, with the first test launches following soon after. The spaceport, he said, will be constructed with the help of international partnerships.

There has been talk of China helping to build the facility, but Indonesian officials have stressed the project will not be a government-to-government contract and they are looking for a commercial partner.

LAPAN acquired a 100-hectare site in North Biak in the 1980s for future development. Indonesia has another site in Garut, West Java, which has been used for testing small experimental rockets.

Having a spaceport virtually on the equator will be a big plus for Indonesia in its ambition to become a major player in space technology. And it could also be a major boost for the economy.

"It is a known fact that an equatorial launch will offer the possibility of lower costs, given the lower amount of fuel it takes for rockets to reach low orbit," said Jonathan Hung, president of the Singapore Space and Technology Association, or SSTA.

Key goal

Peter McCawley, honorary associate professor with the Indonesian Project at Australian National University, or ANU, in Canberra, said Indonesia's space ambitions go back to the 1960s when president Sukarno "spoke of Indonesia launching a satellite".

"Since national unification has always been a key goal for all Indonesian presidents, it's not surprising that the idea of using modern technology to unify the nation has been an enduring one," he said.

SSTA's Hung said growth of the satellite industry for Indonesia could be exponential－"especially now that their government recognizes and is focusing one of its key areas on satellite connectivity".

He said the sector's shift toward nano satellites and increased capabilities in Earth observations is beneficial to Indonesia, to help in monitoring its seas and managing vessels. "It would also help in disaster relief efforts, for observing volcanic ash or for deploying post-disaster relief aid," he said.

Hung said the trend toward small satellites plays to Asia's advantage, and Asia is the most dynamic market for new entrants.

"With lowered costs and increased capabilities, more new players, not just government, have been able to play a part in this fast-growing, rapidly evolving industry," he said.

At present, there are just two equatorial spaceports－Europe's Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, just five degrees above the equator, and Brazil's Alcantara Launch Center, two degrees below the equator.

Biak would add a third, sitting just one degree below the equator.

Professor Roderick Boswell of ANU's Plasma Research Laboratory said that to have another launch site, in the Pacific, would be "very useful for the west Pacific Rim countries".

Scientists say equatorial spaceports are ideal for launching low-orbiting satellites such as those used for weather and communications.

Another positive factor in launches from the equator is that no technical maneuvers are needed to fix the satellite's orbit once it enters space, Boswell said.