SpaceX has launched Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN)’s long-delayed Nusantara Lima (N5) satellite into geostationary orbit to provide satellite broadband connectivity to Indonesia and surrounding areas.
The N5 satellite – also known as Satelit Nusantara Lima (SNL) – was launched the morning of September 11 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a Falcon 9 rocket after three days of postponements due to bad weather.
The satellite was built on Boeing’s 702MP VHTS bus, and can provide more than 160 Gbps of capacity with Ka-band spot beams, offering broadband internet access and communications services for Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Boeing said the N5 also features advanced payload processing that allows PSN to dynamically direct its internet and communications capacity to where it’s needed as demand shifts.
The Nusantara Lima satellite is designed to provide supplemental coverage for PSN’s SATRIA-1 satellite, which began operations last year. In the works since 2022, the N5 satellite was initially expected to be launched in 2023 along with SATRIA-1, but both launches were delayed. No official reason has been given for the delays.
“This satellite will empower communities, schools, and businesses that have never had reliable access before,” PSN Group CEO Adi Rahman Adiwoso said in a statement last month when Boeing delivered the completed satellite to PSN. “SNL with the capacity of more than 160 Gbps will strengthen our capability to provide national capacity for our nation’s needs.”
The N5 satellite – which has a 15-year lifespan – is expected to reach its orbital slot of 113 degrees East in mid-January 2026 with service expected to begin on April 1, 2026, according to national newspaper Kompas.
Kompas also reports that the SNL satellite cost over IDR7 trillion (close to US$427 million), including construction and launch.
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