An artist’s rendition of SATRIA. Photo: Thales Alenia Space

ST Engineering iDirect has been selected for the Phase Two expansion of Indonesia’s Satria-1 satellite network, following the successful completion of Phase One which involved the deployment of ST Engineering iDirect’s next-generation hub infrastructure to enable connectivity across the Indonesian archipelago. ST Engineering announced the contract award on Oct. 23.

The Phase Two expansion will deploy an additional 26 Gbps of capacity via new gateways in Timika, Manokwari, and Jayapura. The enhanced satellite network will enable greater access to critical services such as education and healthcare, impacting up to approximately 150,000 public service points, including 93,900 schools and 3,700 healthcare centers.

The Satria-1 satellite, launched in 2023 and built by Thales Alenia Space with a capacity of 150 Gbps, is one of Asia’s largest satellites and is pivotal to Indonesia’s mission to close the digital divide. With aggressive deployment timelines set by the government, ST Engineering iDirect’s infrastructure aims to provide the flexibility, scalability, and performance required to support diverse connectivity needs across the country.

“Our commitment to supporting Indonesia’s connectivity goals is demonstrated by our rapid deployment of the first gateway for Satria-1. Leveraging our proven technology and future-proof platform, the project is laying the groundwork to ensure that even the most remote regions of the country are connected to essential services, today and in the future. We are proud to be at the forefront of Indonesia’s ambitious efforts to bridge the digital divide and look forward to strengthening our collaboration with PT Bis Data Indonesia,” John Arnold, regional vice president of Asia Sales for ST Engineering iDirect, said in a statement.