SpaceX launches Indonesian telecommunications satellite

By Richard Angle

Posted on June 18, 2023

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 carrying the PSN Satria satellite successfully launched and deployed at 6:21 PM ET (22:21 UTC).

The launch had a 178-minute window, and upper-level winds delayed the first launch attempt at the opening of the window, but SpaceX had plenty of time to work with and launched just a bit later into the launch window.

The PSN Satria Indonesian Telecommunications was first contracted to be built in 2020 by Thales Alenia Spaceby the Indonesian government and delivered to the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in May 2023.

The satellite was launched to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit and then after separating from the 2nd stage of the Falcon 9, will use its own thrusters to raise itself to Geostationary Orbit and be positioned at 146°E. The full Ka-Band will cover the entire Indonesian territory and provide over 150 gigabytes per second.

Satria telecommunications satellite being loaded for shipment to Cape Canaveral, Florida (Credit Thales Alenia Space)

The Falcon 9 launching this mission was B1067, which launched for the 12th time. This booster has safely launched 8 humans, 2 space station resupply missions, 3 communication satellites, and 4 Starlink batches, most recently launching May 14, 2023, a 36-day turnaround.

Once the Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the rocket steered itself on an Eastward trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean.

Just over two and a half minutes after launch, B1067 separated from the 2nd stage and oriented itself for re-entry into the atmosphere and after performing its entry burn, the first stage then reignited its engine for the landing burn and eventual touchdown on the droneship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ about eight and a half minutes after launch.

The 2nd stage performed a 56-second burn 27 minutes into the mission to set up payload separation just under 37 minutes after launch.

This was the 39th Falcon 9 launch of the year and the 5th of the month.

If you missed the launch, check out the replay below!

Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle1555@gmail.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.

SpaceX launches Indonesian telecommunications satellite