VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

An unusually candid North Korea has said the botched launch of a military satellite last month was the "gravest failure" but it vowed it would soon succeed in its quest, state media reported on Monday.

North Korea's ruling party made the assessment of its May 31 launch at a three-day meeting that ended on Sunday, ordering workers and researchers to analyse the mission that ended with the rocket and its spy satellite pay load plunging into the sea, and to prepare for another launch soon.

Officials "who irresponsibly conducted preparations" for the failed launch were "bitterly criticised" at the meeting, the KCNA state news agency reported.

The rocket failed "after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine", North Korea said at the time.

Nuclear-armed North Korea had earlier said it would launch its first military reconnaissance satellite to boost monitoring of U.S. military activities, another step in a military programme that has raised fears of war.

South Korea's navy last week recovered a large, cylindrical part of the rocket, raising it from the sea off the west coast, which experts said could provide clues to the North's rocket development.

The North's state media said the ruling Workers' Party Central Committee also discussed bolstering nuclear capabilities and stepping up production of nuclear weapons.

Leader Kim Jong Un attended the meeting, KCNA said, but it made no mention of whether he made a speech or delivered a report, as he usually does at such important policy-making sessions.

A spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, said the absence of a report of a speech by Kim was "extremely rare".

That and the blaming of low-ranking officials for the failure of the launch could indicate a loss of confidence, the ministry said.

The party also discussed ensuring sufficient food supplies.

South Korea recently said the food situation in the North, which has in the past suffered famines, "seemed to have deteriorated".

Isolated North Korea is under international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes and its economy was further strained by self-imposed border lockdowns aimed at stopping COVID-19.

Separately, KCNA reported that Kim Yong Chol, a top official who was believed to have been sidelined after a 2019 summit with the U.S. ended in failure, had been named as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee. (Reuters)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol departed Seoul for Paris on Monday to support his country's bid to host Expo 2030, part of a foreign trip that will also include meetings with the leaders of France and Vietnam, his office said.

Yoon will address the general assembly of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE), the organiser of the world fair, to promote South Korea's bid. The meeting runs from June 20-21.

The southeastern South Korean city of Busan faces competition from Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Italy's Rome and Ukraine's Odesa for the global event. The host country for the 2030 expo is expected to be decided in November.

Yoon will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

The two leaders last met in June 2022 in Madrid on the sidelines of a NATO summit and agreed to expand cooperation in the space and nuclear energy sectors.

Yoon will then head to Vietnam on Thursday for a three-day state visit, accompanied by a 205-person business delegation, his office said.

Yoon, who calls himself "the No. 1 salesman" for South Korea, has made business deals and "sales diplomacy" a core element of his foreign trips since taking office.

"It will be the largest business delegation since the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economy, said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Launch of Republic of Indonesia Satellite-1 (SATRIA-1) will kick off a brand new digital connectivity era in which internet access would be available evenly across the state, Acting Communication and Informatics Minister Mahfud MD affirmed.

"This first Indonesian satellite aims to distribute internet access evenly, particularly for purposes of education, medical, public services, people, and military and the police force," the minister noted in a press statement here on Monday.

SATRIA-1 will cover the entire Indonesian territory, including remote areas, he remarked.

The minister also clarified that the SATRIA-1 project is not hindered by the 4G base transceiver station corruption case currently being handled by the court.

"No relation to the BTS case, as this is its own separate project for public services," Mahfud explained.

SATRIA-1 was successfully launched into the sky at 6:21 p.m. local time from the Cape Canaveral Space Lauch Complex 40 (SLC 40), Florida, the United States.

After the launch, the satellite will be positioned at 146 degrees East Longitude.

Once placed there, PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) will conduct In-Orbit Testing to ensure that the satellite is functioning normally after the launch. It is estimated that the process will take up three weeks.

Thereafter, PSN will conduct an In-Orbit Acceptance Review (IOAR) in the first week of December 2023.

Thus, people are expected to gain access to SATRIA-1's internet facility gradually from January 2024.

According to the newest study conducted by the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency at the Acting Communication and Informatics Ministry (BAKTI Kominfo) in 2023, SATRIA-1, with a capacity of 150 Gbps, will provide internet access for 50 thousand public facilities.

The internet speed at those spots is projected to reach four Mbps, with the figure having increased from the initial speed estimation of one Mbps made in 2018 when SATRIA-1 was first initiated. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia's first internet satellite, Republic of Indonesia Satellite-1 (SATRIA 1), has successfully been launched into space from the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC 40) in Florida, the United States.

The communication satellite was launched at 6:21 p.m. Sunday local time or 5:21 a.m. Jakarta time. The launch was delayed about 15 minutes from the designated schedule of 6:04 p.m.

The reusable rocket Falcon 9, owned by American-based private spacecraft manufacturer and launcher company Space X, was utilized to launch the satellite.

The first phase of the launch concluded by 6:30 p.m., less than 10 minutes from the liftoff time.

The second phase, when the SATRIA-1 satellite was released into space, was ongoing as the rocket continued its journey to its designation release point.

After going online and orbiting at 146 degrees east longitude, the satellite will provide internet for the Indonesian people living in disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions.

According to a 2023 study conducted by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics' Telecommunication and Informatics Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), the SATRIA-1 satellite will have a capacity of 150 Gbps.

It will provide equal internet access to 50 thousand public facilities in 3T regions. The internet speed at each public facility served is expected to reach four Mbps, increasing from the earlier one Mbps for each point calculated in 2018 during the start of the SATRIA-1 satellite project.

In addition to SATRIA-1, the ministry will launch Hot Backup Satellite (HBS) in the third quarter of 2023. (Antaranews)