Indonesia goals to extend broadband web entry throughout its nation by means of the launch of its newest communications satellite tv for pc aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Telkomsat HTS 113BT satellite tv for pc, additionally known as Merah Putih 2, is ready to launch from Cape Canaveral House Drive Station at 3:11 p.m. EST (2011 UTC).
There’s a two-hour window throughout which the launch can happen on Tuesday. If wanted, there may be additionally a four-hour backup window on Wednesday that opens at 12:53 p.m. EST (1753 UTC).
Spaceflight Now may have reside protection beginning about one hour previous to liftoff.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster getting used on this mission, tail quantity B1067, can be making its seventeenth flight. Its earlier launches included Crew-3, Crew-4 and a pair of Cargo Dragon spacecraft missions to the Worldwide House Station. It additionally launched PSN Satria, one other Indonesian communications satellite tv for pc, in June 2023.
About 8.5 minutes following liftoff, B1067 will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Simply Learn the Directions.’ This would be the first outing for JRTI since B1058 toppled over whereas returning to Port Canaveral in Florida in December.
If profitable, Tuesday’s mission will mark the 72nd touchdown on JRTI and the 276th total booster touchdown. This may also be SpaceX’s sixteenth launch in 2024.
Increasing web entry
The satellite tv for pc poised to launch on Tuesday was constructed by Thales Alenia House based mostly on its Spacebus 4000B2 platform. The corporate stated the Merah Putih 2 satellite tv for pc “will present greater than 32 Gbps capability over Indonesia.”
It weighs about 4 metric tons and can function at an orbital place of 113° East for 15 years. In line with the publication Telecom Review, the contracted work was valued at 3.8 trillion INR ($242.8 million).
“It’s very fulfilling to have the ability to help our buyer’s enterprise growth after Telkom 3S. HTS 113BT is the fourth telecom program to serve the Indonesian satellite tv for pc operators confirming that Thales Alenia House is ready to match its prospects’ wants by providing a large telecom satellites product vary,” stated Hervé Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia House in a 2021 assertion.
The Merah Putih 2, which interprets to “crimson and white” in Indonesian, would be the second satellite tv for pc that SpaceX will launch on behalf of Telkomsat. The primary was the Merah Putih, which was previously referred to as Telkom-4, which launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Aug. 7, 2018, from the Cape.
That mission additionally marked the primary preflight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 booster.
Merah Putih 2 can be launched to a geosynchronous switch orbit roughly 33 minutes after liftoff.
Indonesian #telecommunications satellite tv for pc Telkomsat HTS 113BT left the port of Good on January 9 and is heading to Florida’s Port Canaveral by sea. Verify-out these beautiful photographs of the #satellite being loaded inside its container in our clear rooms of Cannes finish of final yr. pic.twitter.com/jTy9Ksjazz
— Thales Alenia House (@Thales_Alenia_S) January 11, 2024
