Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, January 7, 2014
 |
The Lapan-A2 microsatellite, its black box in the center, undergoes an
electromagnetic compatibility test at the Center for Science and Technology.
(Photo courtesy of Lapan) |
The
bookish, bespectacled chief engineer of Indonesia’s first domestically made
satellite briefly explains the six-year journey his team took before the
satellite, called Lapan-A2, is ready for launch this year.
“It began
in 2008, a year after we successfully launched Lapan-Tubsat, our first
microsatellite, ” Mohammad Mukhayadi, of the National Aeronautics and Space
Agency (Lapan), said at his office in Rancabungur, Bogor, last month.
“Then we
started the development of Lapan-Tubsat’s successor. We call it Lapan-A2, and
it’s finally complete.”
Lapan-Tubsat,
also known as Lapan-A1, was built in Germany in an ambitious project that
taught Indonesia the process of building satellites from scratch: how to
procure components for production, how to arrange licenses and how to test the
satellite until it is ready for launch.
Lapan-Lubsat
was launched from the Indian space center in Sriharikota, in January 2007.
Today, seven years after take-off, the satellite is still floating in space,
though it began to slowly drift away from its orbit two years ago.
The
57-kilogram satellite continues to transmit earth surveillance video to Lapan
ground stations, allowing operators to train themselves on satellite use and
data retrieval methods, though the video data is barely of practical use.
“Of course,
it is not what we would call operation qualified,” said Robertus Heru
Triharjanto, the head of Lapan’s satellite bus technology division. “It is
mostly for our own interest, to see how well we can produce pictures.”
He added
Lapan will continue to monitor Lapan-A1 to study its degradation.
“We would
like to see what seven years in space has done to the satellite; to collect
data on which components are still healthy and which are not, and more
importantly, why they came to that state.”
The
Lapan-A2 is also a microsatellite, weighing 76 kilograms. Any satellite
weighing between 10 and 100 kilograms is categorized as a microsatellite.
Communication satellites like those used by Indonesian telecommunication firms
Telkom and Indosat usually weigh more than a ton.
Indonesia
has been purchasing its satellites for telecommunication purposes from other
countries, as it has yet to effectively develop the capacity to manufacture its
own satellites.
Lapan, with
its Lapan A series of microsatellites — of which there will be five — are
hoping to develop that capability.
“The goal
of Lapan-A1 is capacity building,” Robertus said. “With the second satellite,
we want to prove that we are capable of building a satellite. We want to show
the public that we have learned from others and we are able to successfully
apply our newfound knowledge in constructing a satellite on our own.”
Mukhayadi
said he and his team spent two years designing the Lapan-A2 before procuring
some components from Germany and producing the remaining components on their
own.
The
integration work began in 2011 and was completed in August 2012, along with the
set of required tests. The integration was entirely done in Indonesia, making
Lapan-A2 the country’s first self-designed, home-made satellite.
Lapan-A2,
though, will have to wait until April or May before it can enter orbit, as
Indonesia is still significantly behind in rocket technology. For a satellite
to enter space, it must be launched with a launch vehicle or a carrier rocket.
Therefore,
like its predecessor, Lapan-A2 will be launched with an Indian rocket as its
“secondary payload”, with the primary payload being India’s first dedicated
astronomy satellite Astrosat.
Mukhayadi
said piggybacking as a secondary payload is “the cheapest” method, although
that meant it would be highly dependant on the primary payload.
“When
they’re [India] ready, we will launch our satellite,” he said. “But for now,
the main payload is not ready.”
In the
meantime, Mukhayadi and his team have been doing maintenance work on the
Lapan-A2, regularly checking its “health”.
“The
Lapan-A2’s construction is finished, every necessary component has been
integrated, so the microsatellite is actually active,” Mukhayadi said.
He
enthusiastically showed Jakarta Globe the carefully maintained microsatellite
in his dust-free workshop at Lapan’s Satellite Technology Center in Rancabungur.
The black
box doesn’t look much different from a household microwave but only slightly
bigger.
He showed
us the antennas that will be used to control the satellite from earth and to
transmit data to earth; the star censor that will determine the satellite’s
position in outer space and support its navigation; the solar panel to power
the satellite; and the cameras that will be used to capture earth images.
Like
Lapan-A1, Lapan-A2 is intended as an earth observation satellite, as opposed to
deeper universe observation, which involves even more sophisticated and more
expensive technology.
But
Lapan-A2 will carry a digital camera, not just an analog video camera, allowing
more practical use of data images.
Ultimately,
Lapan hopes its satellites will be able to produce remote-sensing images that
will help the country monitor its forest covering and forest fires, the span of
its agricultural lands, to detect fish catchment areas and examine the
condition of disaster-hit areas, among other uses.
Lapan until
now has been obtaining such data from other countries’ satellites, which it has
been allowed to access through leases or partnerships that otherwise require
regular payments of money.
Other than
the digital camera, Lapan-A2 will carry two additional payloads, namely the
Automatic Identification System (AIS) for ship surveillance — to help monitor
maritime traffic in Indonesia — and a text message repeater for the Indonesian
Amateur Radio Organization (Orari) for disaster mitigation purposes, which
explains the satellite’s other name, Lapan-Orari.
Mukhayadi
also showed two sets of components that he said were exact copies of Lapan-A1
and Lapan-A2’s interiors.
“If there’s
a problem with the satellites in orbit, we can conduct a test and simulation
with devices on the ground,” he said.
For the
next satellite, Lapan-A3, the agency will partner with the Bogor Institute of
Agriculture (IPB) to develop a payload for agricultural purposes. Robertus said
Lapan was also planning to install a magnetometer in the satellite, which will
allow the monitoring of solar activities, Lapan’s first attempt to probe the
world beyond our earth.
LapanA3’s
integration is set for completion next year. The total production cost of the
satellite is slightly higher than that of Lapan-A2, at approximately $3.5
million, Robertus said. Lapan-A1 had cost $1 million to make.
Lapan-A4 is
projected to be built in 2016, and Lapan-A5 in 2017.
The
development of a B series, for remote-sensing satellites, and C series, for
communication satellites, has been scheduled to commence in 2018.
The plan is
according to Lapan’s satellite development roadmap, drafted before the House of
Representatives passed the Space Law in July. After the law’s issuance, the
agency has expressed high hopes to accelerate its implementation.
A new arm:
Space Law
Indonesian
lawmakers may have failed to explain to the public the significance of the new
space law, the aspects of which are quite esoteric.
Sutan
Bhatoegana, the head of the House of Representatives’ Commission VII on energy
and technology, which dealt intensively with the bill before it was passed into
law, cryptically explained that it —the new space law — “has to do with
satellites, which are important for communication. ”
But the law
is much more than that.
It mandates
Lapan to develop satellite and rocket technology, to carry out peaceful uses of
such technology, and it mandates the government to pursue bilateral or
international cooperation that will enable a transfer of technology.
The law
regulates the construction of a space port, investigation of space-related
accidents (including space debris or meteorites falling within Indonesia’s
territory), and partnerships with the private sector.
It paves
the foundation for a space industry in a country that has been moving at slower
than a snail’s pace in its space sector, despite the establishment of the
agency 50 years ago. Lapan was set up in 1963, under Indonesia’s first
president, Sukarno.
“The
government and the House might have deemed [the space sector] too high a
technology, while there have been many other things they still need to take
care of,” Agus Hidayat, the head of Lapan’s cooperation and public relations
bureau, said at the agency’s headquarters in Jakarta.
“But the
birth of this law has been fully supported by the House. I guess now the
government and the House are at the same frequency. At least their awareness of
the sector is becoming more concrete.”
One
“concrete” evidence is a budget increase of at least Rp 310 billion ($25.4
million) for 2014, Agus said, and that is more than half the Rp 526 billion
amount disbursed to Lapan last year.
The 2013
figure represents only modest increases from Rp 493 billion in 2012 and Rp 466.8
billion in 2011.
The Space
Law, though, specifies no sanctions for failure to carry out the aforementioned
mandates, so implementation will likely depend heavily on the House.
Agus,
though, is confident that the House is committed to developing the space
sector, viewing their passage of the law as evidence.
“It is the
House’s task to oversee law implementations. So, if they ask us why we fail to
develop this or that, we can easily counter, ‘Where’s the money?’ ” Agus said.
“They can’t
demand us to build an aircraft if they only give us a budget for a bajaj
[three-wheeled car]. If they ensure a smooth flow of our funding, surely we’ll
also be able to work smoothly.”
Agus added
Lapan was currently drafting a master plan for Indonesia’s space industry development
for the next 25 years, which is another mandate of the law.
He
envisions the industry, which includes heightened roles for Lapan and extensive
involvement of the private sector, to be in existence five years from now.
Robertus,
though, thinks it needs at least 10 years for the industry to develop, taking
into account the need to build the workforce that will run the industry.
“If we look
at the experience of other nations like China or India, usually it takes more
than 10 years for the space industry to establish a solid [legal] ground,”
Robertus commented.
He
envisioned Indonesia to become Asia’s next big space player in that 10-year
span — after Japan, China, and India.
“If the new
space law can be implemented according to the plan, we are sure to have a good,
promising future,” Robertus predicted.
But Hakim
L. Malasan, of the School of Astronomy at Bandung Institute of Technology
(ITB), highlighted the law’s failure to address the human resources need to
support the industry.
“I haven’t
seen this law guarantee the development of top human resources in the fields of
astronomy and astrophysics, though they will be important for Indonesia’s space
industry,” said Hakim, also a vice president of Paris-based International
Astronomical Union.
“Clauses on
education and the development of relevant educational institutions to train
future astrophysicists should have been incorporated in the law.”
He added,
nevertheless, that Lapan was already on the right track by learning everything
from the ground up, in order to end Indonesia’s reliance on other countries’
space products.
“A classic
problem with Indonesia is the lack of will to start from the bottom and develop
things from scratch using science. We tend to enjoy being consumers of foreign
products,” Hakim said.
“I see that
Lapan is already on the right track. It only has to move faster in order to
accomplish its roadmap.”
China deal,
space war concerns
Just a few
months after the passage of the Space Law, Indonesia inked in October a
partnership deal with China on “the development of space technology for
commercial and peaceful purposes”.
The new
cooperation also brings hopes to Indonesia’s space sector.
“Why are we
interested in China? Because they’re still quite open,” Agus said. “China is
probably willing to share a bit of rocket science with us.”
Developing
rockets that will launch satellites to outer space is even more difficult and
complex than manufacturing the satellites, Agus said.
While
Indonesia’s slow satellite technology development is largely attributable to
the nation’s lack of commitment to the sector — and thus the lack of funding —
for the development of rockets technology there is another, more “sensitive”
issue.
“Rocket
technology is very different from aircraft and satellite technology. For the
latter, other countries are very open, we can learn from them, we can ask them
how to make one,” Agus said.
“As for
rockets? No way. Developed countries don’t want Indonesia to be advanced in
rocket technology because they worry we’ll use it to develop weapons.”
Indonesia,
Agus said, really had to start from zero, all on its own, with regards to
rocket technology.
The latest
rocket Lapan launched in its rocket test center at Pameungpeuk beach in Garut,
West Java, only had a range of between 100 and 200 kilometers, less than a
third needed for the minimum height of a satellite in orbit, which is around
600 kilometers. Large communication satellites need to be placed even farther:
in the geostationary orbit, a circular orbit around 36,000 kilometers above the
earth’s equator.
“To be
frank, we’ll be very slow in rocket development,” Agus said.
Negotiations
with China concerning detailed schemes of the partnership, though, are still
underway.
China has
so far asked to be allowed to build a ground station in Pare-pare, a port town
in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province, where a Lapan station is also located.
Agus said China
needed the station to track its newly launched satellites.
Indonesia,
though, has not agreed on anything. “We’re still negotiating. What can we get
in return? It’s not good if they get more from us.”
Agus added
Indonesia treaded carefully in any space negotiation with another country,
citing a perceived space war involving the US and China, in which each country
has reportedly been developing their own anti-satellite weapons.
The US
especially, according to a Reuters report in May, has remained concerned about
China’s development of its anti-satellite capacity after Beijing shot its own
defunct weather satellite in 2007, creating a multitude of space debris. The
action caused protests from nations worldwide because of the potential harm the
space debris may cause to their respective operating satellites.
In the
following year, the US shot its non-functioning intelligence satellite while it
was entering the earth’s atmosphere.
Mukhayadi
said during the six years of Lapan-A1’s operations, Lapan has received three or
four alerts on near collision with space debris, although all of them were
easily avoided with a small amount of maneuvering commanded by Lapan’s ground
stations.
Indonesia
doesn’t want to be dragged into the “new frontier” competitions, directly or
not. The Space Law appears to have anticipated this, banning any space
activities for non-peaceful purposes, although again it fails to offer
sanctions.
“Surely we
have concerns about this issue, which is why we need to be very careful with this
law. We can no longer simply accept an offer as it is,” Agus said.
“That’s why
negotiations with China have been quite difficult. We don’t want to be
dictated.”
Agus added
that in addition to China, Russia and India have also quite aggressively approached
Indonesia, offering space cooperation.
Indonesia
recently decided to reject Russia’s offer to build an air launch in Biak,
Papua, citing local residents’ rejection and safety reasons. In the past few
years, Russia had been offering Indonesia a partnership that will use the new
technology — launching satellites off a flying aircraft rather than a ground
launchpad.
And
although the US has remained silent about all those other growing space
nations’ — especially China’s — moves to approach Indonesia, Agus said he
believed the US is keeping a close watch.
“I’m sure
they’ve been doing that silently, albeit never explicitly.”
National
pride, or financial gain?
In the end,
this is not about national pride, Agus said, though he proudly claimed
Indonesia was quite advanced in its satellite technology compared with its
Southeast Asian neighbors.
“If you
talk about a manned mission, or lunar or Mars exploration, I think those are
more about prestige; to show other nations that they are now inferior,” Agus
said. “But our need is real, especially with regards to earth observation.”
He said
Indonesia wishes to build its own ground stations, to operate its own
satellites, to end its reliance on other nations such as the US and France,
from which the country has been “renting” satellites to gain access to crucial
earth observation data.
China and
India have also been offering to sell such data to Indonesia, while Singapore
is developing commercial satellites for a similar purpose, Agus said.
“Once we
have mastered earth observation, at least we can end that reliance. So, this is
not about prestige; we really need that [independence]. ”
It doesn’t
hurt, though, to consider China’s offer for a manned mission, Agus added. He
said sending an astronaut to outer space would likely be incorporated in
Lapan’s 25-year master plan.
Indonesia
almost had its first astronaut when microbiologist Pratiwi Sudarmono, now 61,
was selected in 1985 to take part in a NASA space shuttle mission as a payload
specialist.
The mission
was cancelled, though, and Pratiwi has since then been focusing on her academic
career. She is now a microbiology professor at the University of Indonesia.
But before
Indonesia can make up its mind whether launching a manned mission is necessary,
this year the country will finally have its first astronaut in the outer space
anyway.
Rizman A.
Nugraha, a 24-year-old web designer, is among 23 people from around the world
selected in December to board shuttle spaces under Axe Apollo Space Academy,
which is sponsored by consumer goods giant Unilever.
Rizman, who
has been undergoing training at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will board
a two-seated space shuttle called the XCOR Lynx Mark II, with a pilot.
— Additional reporting by Benjamin Soloway
