Indonesia's Indosat on Tuesday said it had appointed Thales Alenia Space France (TASF) to build and launch its latest telecommunications satellite, Palapa D. In a statement, the company said the satellite will be launched in 2009 and have a service life of 15 years. It will replace its existing Palapa-C2 satellite which is set to end its service life in 2011.
Indosat president Johnny Swandi Sjam said in the statement that the satellite will be provided to TV broadcasters, VSAT providers and other corporate customers. Indosat will also use the new satellite as a backbone to support other services, such as cellular, fixed voice telecommunications and fixed data services.