A new era for Orbital began in November 1997 when our first GEO satellite, IndoStar-1, was launched aboard an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. Orbital built the IndoStar-1 satellite for Media Citra Indovision to deliver the first direct-to-home satellite television to Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous county.
IndoStar-1 is the world's first commercial communications satellite to use S-band frequencies, which efficiently penetrate the atmosphere and provide high-quality transmissions to small-diameter antennas in regions that experience heavy rainfall such as Indonesia. Similar performance is not economically feasible with comparable Ku- or C-band direct-to-home satellite systems since more power is required in these bands to penetrate the moist atmosphere.
Under the $175 million contract, Orbital served as the prime contractor for the turn-key system, including the space, ground and user segments. Specifically, we provided:
The complete INDOVISION satellite television broadcasting system, including total system engineering
Coordination of activities for the Ariane 4 launch
The ground station for spacecraft telemetry, tracking, control and monitoring
Design and engineering management of the integrated receiver and decoder units
Subscriber management and conditional access security systems
Complete program risk management, system operations and maintenance
Performance:
Launch mass: 1,350 kg (2,976 lbs)
Mission life: 12 years
Status:
Satellite was launched via Ariane (V102) in November 1997
Satellite is on-orbit
Broadcast operations have commenced
Coverage: Indonesia
Customer: Media Citra Indovision (MCI) — Jakarta, Indonesia
Mission: Provide direct broadcast television to Indonesia (high quality digital transmission, approximately 40 TV channels)
