Indonesian Satellite Saved by Shuttle Is Relaunched

An Indonesian communications satellite plucked from a useless orbit by space-walking shuttle astronauts more than five years ago was launched back into space Friday aboard a Delta rocket.

The unmanned rocket blasted off on time at 6:28 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. An on-board motor is to boost it into its proper orbit on Sunday.

The $60-million satellite, a Palapa B-2R, was one of two spacecraft rescued by Discovery in November, 1984, nine months after the satellites were launched by NASA aboard Challenger.

The second satellite, originally built for Western Union, was renamed Asiasat 1 and returned to space on a Chinese “Long March 3” rocket on April 7. The successful send-off marked China’s debut into the international satellite launching business.

The refurbished Palapa B-2R will join two Indonesian satellites already in orbit, electronically linking the 177 million people who live on the country’s 13,677 islands. It is expected to go into operation in six weeks in its geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Equator.

The Indonesian satellites will also be used for internal communications services in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

“The launch demonstrates how close the bilateral relations are between Indonesia and the United States,” said T. Dahlia Soemolang, consul general of Indonesia, who is based in Houston.

Hughes Aircraft Co., which built the Palapa satellite, replaced the spacecraft’s batteries and the on-board thrusters and motors used to boost the satellite into its proper orbit. Damage in space was “amazingly benign,” said Dave Braverman, a vice president for Hughes.

Palapa’s return to space on a McDonnell Douglas commercial Delta rocket originally was scheduled for April 9. It was pushed back three days when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration moved up the date of Discovery’s launching with the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Palapa launching was delayed yet again--to Friday--when Discovery’s mission was scrubbed Tuesday and NASA indicated that another launching might be attempted in two days.