The calling capacity of the Asia Cellular Satellite’s Garuda 1 mobile services satellite “is likely to be limited by an antenna-related anomaly discovered…during testing by its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp.” [LMT], it was announced today.

The limitation is not expected to delay the introduction of commercial service on the ACeS system in Indonesia, later this month, but it is likely to limit the number of subscribers who will be able to make simultaneous calls via the satellite, according to P.T. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara [PSNRY], which is the managing partner in the system.

“Lockheed Martin is still evaluating the testing data and has not yet issued a detailed evaluation of the problem,” according to PSN.

“If the capacity limitation is, indeed, permanent, its impact is confined to an inability of the Garuda 1 satellite’s antenna to use effectively all of the power available. Therefore, so long as the Garuda 1 satellite is operating below its original design capacity, it should perform in accordance with design specifications,” PSN said.

“ACeS and Lockheed have already begun work on Garuda 2, a second ACeS satellite designated for system expansion or backup, and it is possible that Garuda 2 could at least partially address capacity limitation on Garuda 1,” PSN added.