science

Palapa-C2

Palapa-C2 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Palapa-C2 rather than just read about it. In short: Palapa-C2 was an Indonesian communications satellite which reached its target orbit on 16 May 1996. It was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (now Boeing Satellite Development Center) for Indonesian telecommunications provider PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (SATELINDO).

Key takeaways

Palapa-C2 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Palapa-C2 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Palapa-C2 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Palapa-C2 was an Indonesian communications satellite which reached its target orbit on 16 May 1996. It was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (now Boeing Satellite Development Center) for Indonesian telecommunications provider PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (SATELINDO). It was based on the HS-601 satellite bus and had 30 C-band transponders and 4 Ku-band transponders. It was due to be located in geosynchronous orbit at 113° East above the equator. It operated for more than 20 years, more than five years past the designed life time of 15 years, making it the longest operation among the Indonesian fleet of communications satellites.

Satellite description PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (SATELINDO) chose Hughes in April 1993, together with identical sister satellite, the Palapa-C1. It is a HS-601 satellite bus. Construction was done at El Segundo, California. Hughes also set up the new master control station at Daan Mogot City near Jakarta. The R-4D-11-300 liquid apogee engine of the satellite then raised it to geostationary orbit. First Digital service was entered by RCTI, ANTV, Indosiar, TPI and other was used MPEG-2 into the Palapa C-2 from 1998 until 2009 moved to Palapa D and then Telkom-4 at 2020. Indosat TV Link or Satelindo transponder at 4080 H turned on at 2000 to provide any TV station (including MetroTV until 2023 and Global TV until 2010).

Launch Palapa-C2 was launched along with Amos-1 by an Ariane 44L H10-3 launch vehicle on 16 May 1996 at 01:56:29 UTC. The satellites were launched from Centre Spatial Guyanais at Kourou in French Guiana. Launch was insured for over US$200 million.

PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara Six transponders were owned by PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.

Palapa-E PT Indosat Tbk selected in May 2013 Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) (now Northrop Grumman) to build and launch the Palapa-E satellite. Palapa-E was meant to replace the Palapa-C2 satellite. Palapa-E was supposed to be based on Orbital's GEOStar-2 satellite bus. Indosat cancelled contract to build Palapa-E after losing the operating rights to the 150.5° East orbital position to state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Palapa-C2

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Palapa-C2 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Palapa-C2 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Palapa-C2 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Palapa-C2

In research: Palapa-C2 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Palapa-C2 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Palapa-C2 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1996 establishments in Indonesia, Ariane commercial payloads, Communications in Indonesia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Palapa-C2 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Palapa-C2 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Palapa-C2 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Palapa-C2 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Palapa-C2 in simple terms?

Why does Palapa-C2 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Palapa-C2?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Palapa-C2.