REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Arianespace has successfully orbited BRIsat belongs to state-owned PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia tbk (BRI). The satellite will enable BRI to provide enhanced secure banking communications for more than 10,600 operational branches, 236,939 electronic channel outlets, and almost 53 million customers across the Indonesian archipelago.
The launch took place on Saturday at around 17:30 local time, in the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
BRI President Director Aswami Syam said the operation of BRIsat will be effective as of the second week of August 2016, or 50 days after the launch. BRIsat is the first satellite in the world dedicated to a financial establishment.
The Rp3.377 trillion (roughly US$250 million) BRIsat will save 40 percent of the satellite operational cost as BRI has to pay Rp500 billion per year for satellite rental service so far, according to BRI Consumer Director Sis Apik Wijayanto.
The Indonesian BRIsat (Bank Rakyat Indonesia Satellite) is a communications satellite for banking purposes built by Space Systems/Loral for BRI. It was positioned at 150.5 degrees East longitude
It will provide both C-band and Ku-band coverage of Indonesia, South East Asia and North East Asia.
With BRIsat, BRI is the only bank in the world to own and operate its own satellite.
The BRIsat satellite will allow PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia to offer its customers fast, simple and secure access to banking services, as well as providing a complete and innovative range of business solutions.
The launch of the BRISat Satellite was delayed several times due to either unfavorable weather conditions over the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, or a problem with the Ariane 5's rocket boosters.