22 June 2023
SpaceX has launched a new Indonesian communications satellite as part of an ambitious project called SATRIA. 
The $550 million project aims to provide high-speed internet access to schools, medical centres, and thousands of public and government facilities across the island nation.
The satellite is intended to boost broadband access across thousands of islands in the country’s vast archipelago. According to Reuters, roughly two-thirds of Indonesia's 280 million population already use the internet, but connectivity is limited in the country’s far-flung, underdeveloped eastern islands.
Built by Thales Alenia Space, SATRIA is a public-private project between the government of Indonesia and a consortium led by PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN). With 150Gbps throughput, SATRIA will connect some 94,000 schools, nearly 50,000 village offices, other government facilities and thousands of hospitals and medical facilities across the fourth most populous country in the world.
Before SATRIA, Indonesia relied on five domestic communications satellites and four foreign relay stations with a combined 50Gbps of telecommunications bandwidth.
