The United States won a high-stakes competition...

The United States won a high-stakes competition to launch Indonesia’s next communications satellite with a $132.7 million loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Ahmad Tahir, minister of tourism, posts, and telecommunications, said after meeting with President Suharto that Indonesia would stick with its original plan to use American facilities to launch the Palapa B-2R. The U.S. loan came after an Oct. 1 meeting of the bank’s council of governors, who were under pressure to meet a French offer of $127 million that was tied to a European launch. The satellite maker, Hughes Aircraft, and the manufacturers of the planned launch vehicle, McDonnell Douglas, reportedly lobbied the U.S. State Department and the Eximbank to improve the original offer of $101 million.