Indonesia Needs More Than Just Satellites

Whenever Indonesia talks about space, the conversation almost always stops at launch pads, rockets, and when the country will have its own spaceport. Yet regardless of where a satellite is launched, its real value only shows up once it is in orbit and its data starts getting used back on earth.

Image Source: Magnific/wirestock

On the way to the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision, this capability is not just an infrastructure add-on. Law No. 59 of 2024 on the National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN) 2025–2045 sets out eight development missions for a united, sovereign, advanced, and sustainable Indonesia. [1]

Satellites and geospatial data touch at least four of those missions at once, which is why this sector deserves a deeper look than just rocket launch ambitions.

Not Just About Rockets

The space industry is not a single activity. Upstream sits rockets, satellites, and launch facilities, already covered in an earlier article through the case of Biak, Papua. In the middle are ground stations and the systems linking satellites back to earth. Downstream are the services closest to everyday people, such as satellite internet, navigation, remote sensing, and analytics built on satellite imagery.

This article will step away from launch pads and move into the middle and downstream layers, where most of the economic value and policy relevance is actually created.

Number of countries with satellites in orbit, 1957–2023. Source: oecd.org (2023)

This opportunity keeps opening up because access to space has become far more democratic. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes that operational satellites in orbit rose from around 3,300 at the end of 2020 to more than 6,700 in 2022, driven by smaller satellites and falling launch costs [2].

Startups, universities, and commercial companies now have far more room in a field once reserved for major powers.

Satellites Demand Coming From Many Directions

Demand for satellite data comes from many directions, and Indonesia’s character as an archipelagic nation makes that need concrete. In telecommunications, satellites extend connectivity into areas terrestrial networks struggle to reach. SATRIA-1, for instance, supports schools, health clinics, and government offices, while helping the military and police monitor the country’s territory [3].

In the maritime sector, satellite data supports vessel tracking and detection of illegal fishing. In agriculture, satellite imagery helps track land conditions and crop failure risk. In disaster management, this data speeds up the mapping of floods, landslides, and forest fires in remote areas.

Implementation of satellites in the maritime sector. Source: mdpi.com (2025)

The Ability to See One’s Own Territory

Geospatial data is, at its core, location-based information such as maps, satellite imagery, or spatial data describing what is happening in a given area. The challenge is not simply providing maps, but building the capacity to turn imagery into information ready to guide policy and business decisions. BRIN, Indonesia’s research agency, has already stressed the importance of standardizing remote sensing data to strengthen national competitiveness.

China offers a useful case to study, though not one to copy wholesale. They built remote sensing capability to support economic development, public services, geopolitical interests, and military modernization at once. The lesson for Indonesia is not to join an aggressive space race, but that satellite data functions as strategic infrastructure for any modern state.

An Explicit Link to the Golden Indonesia 2045 Agenda

Of the eight development missions in the 2025–2045 RPJPN, satellite and geospatial data capability connects most directly to the Economic Transformation agenda, which targets stronger science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation as drivers of national productivity [1]. Geospatial analytics and monitoring as a service are concrete examples of new industries born from this agenda.

The same capability also falls under Social, Cultural, and Ecological Resilience, one of the RPJPN’s two transformation foundations, through its role in speeding up disaster mitigation and climate monitoring. Satellite connectivity to underserved 3T regions aligns with Equitable and Just Regional Development, one of the RPJPN’s implementation frameworks.

Satellite data also carries a dual-use nature, meaning the same technology can serve civilian purposes while supporting defense functions, such as situational awareness along borders and sea lanes. NATO notes that space capabilities support deterrence and defense through communication, navigation, and command and control [4]. This connects to the Rule of Law, Stability, and Leadership agenda, though the main weight of this capability for Indonesia sits with economic value, connectivity, and disaster mitigation, rather than defense alone.

None of this comes easily. Challenges include the scale of investment needed, a shortage of talent across aerospace, geospatial science, and data science, the need for clear data governance, dependence on foreign vendors, and dual-use risks that require careful oversight.

Indonesia does not need to start from the ambition of becoming the world’s biggest rocket-launching nation. A more realistic path is building the capacity to own, process, and use its own satellite data, placed within the transformation agenda the government has already laid out. On the way to 2045, the ability to read its own territory from space will shape how a country understands its land, protects its interests, and builds a data-driven economy.

Referensi

[1] Kementerian PPN/Bappenas - UU No. 59 Tahun 2024 tentang RPJPN 2025-2045 / Indonesia Emas 2045. https://indonesia2045.go.id

[2] OECD - Space Economy. https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/space-economy.html

[3] Redaksi Indonesia.go.id - SATRIA untuk Internet Sehat di Wilayah 3T. https://indonesia.go.id/kategori/editorial/8746/satria-untuk-internet-sehat-di-wilayah-3t

[4] NATO - NATO’s Approach to Space. https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/deterrence-and-defence/natos-approach-to-space

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