Ryamizard Says There is an Element of Emergency Satellite Rental Orbit Slot 123 East Longitude

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Former Minister of Defense (Minister of Defense) Ryamizard Ryacudu said, there is an element of emergency in the rental satellite by the Ministry of Defense (Ministry of Defense) to fill the orbital slot of 123 degrees East Longitude in 2015.

Because, if Indonesia does not immediately show its commitment to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the slot can be given to another party.

Therefore, President Joko Widodo at that time issued a discretion or order to him to save the orbital slot.

“I am a soldier, I was ordered to save the orbit (slot) 123 east longitude, I did it and succeeded. If I don’t do that, the orbit can be taken by other parties and endanger the country’s sovereignty,” said Ryamizard, quoted from Kompas.id, Monday (17/1/2022).

Also read: Ryamizard Says There Is A Sovereignty Threat if Orbit Slot 123 Is Not Saved

Noted, on January 19, 2015, Satellite Garuda-1 which is in that slot is out of orbit so that there is a vacancy in the orbital slot of 123 degrees East Longitude.

As per ITU rules, these slots must be filled if they do not want to be given to other countries.

In addition, Ryamizard explained that there is a threat to sovereignty against the state if the orbital slot above Sulawesi is not immediately rescued even though there are some normatively inappropriate ones.

Therefore, Jokowi also issued discretion to him to save the orbital slot.

“First, because there is discretion and second, there is a threat to sovereignty if it is not done,” he said.

In its implementation, the Ministry of Defense’s use of orbital slots in 2015 through a military satellite project became a polemic because it caused the country to suffer huge losses.

Also read: Former Defense Minister Ryamizard Says There Was an Order from the President to Save Orbit Slot 123

The decisions of the international arbitral tribunals in the UK and Singapore punished Indonesia and required it to pay several companies involved in signing contracts with the Ministry of Defense in the amount of IDR 815 billion.

Ryamizard admitted that the Ministry of Defense when using the orbit slot did not have a budget.

However, the Ministry of Defense must continue to rent satellites in order to save the orbital slot as ordered by Jokowi.

“Indeed, there is no budget yet. However, we must immediately fill the slot to show our commitment (to fill the orbital slot),” he added.

The problem with the satellite project began when the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemkominfo) complied with the Ministry of Defense’s request to obtain the right to manage the orbital slot of 123 degrees east longitude (BT) in order to build a Satkomhan.

Also read: The Attorney General’s Office Examines 3 Witnesses in the Case of the Satellite Rental Project at the Ministry of Defense

The Ministry of Defense then made a lease contract for the Artemis Satellite owned by Avanti Communication Limited on December 6, 2015.

The contract was carried out even though the use of the 123 degree east longitude orbital slot from the Ministry of Communication and Information was only issued on January 29, 2016.

However, on June 25, 2018, the Ministry of Defense returned the rights to manage the orbital slot of 123 degrees east to the Ministry of Communication and Information.

At the time of contracting with Avanti in 2015, the Ministry of Defense did not yet have a budget for this purpose.

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