If selecting a spaceport were so simple as selecting a location, Indonesia could simply construct one in Bandung. A city known for its cooler weather, so engineers would probably enjoy this climate.
However, the weather on the launch site only matters on the launch day. Geography counts on daily basis. Geography is something that no amount of excellent weather can fix.
Unlike an airport, a spaceport can’t be built anywhere. The location is determined by where the rocket is headed, because a satellite heading toward a geostationary orbit has different launch requirements than a satellite heading right into a polar orbit.
That’s why Indonesia has been eyeing one particular place for a long time – Biak Island in Papua.
Why location is most vital in spaceflight
Biak is a small island positioned over 3,000 kilometers from Jakarta.
But on the map of the Earth, its location is unusual. It is positioned roughly 1° south of the equator, making it one in every of the world’s closest inhabited islands to the Earth’s equator.
This matters since the Earth is consistently spinning.
Near the equator, the planet’s surface is moving east at a speed of about 465 meters per second. A rocket launched from there receives this speed free of charge, so it could actually carry a bigger payload or use less fuel than the same launch from higher latitudes.
This is very useful for satellites heading to geostationary orbit, which is a 35,786 km high orbit by which the satellites remain stationary over the identical point on Earth (Learn more about geostationary orbit Here). Ideal for communications and broadcasting because launching from near the equator requires fewer costly orbital corrections.
Biak also faces the Pacific Ocean to the east. Rockets are typically fired east to benefit from the Earth’s rotation, and huge swathes of open ocean give spent rocket stages a secure place to fall without passing over populated land.
This connection, positioned near the equator and facing the ocean, is shared by major spaceports reminiscent of the Guyana Space Center in French Guiana and the Alcântara Space Center in Brazil.
Decades of on and off plans
Indonesia’s interest in Biak is nothing latest.
Discussions with Russia on the technology of launching missiles into the air began in 2006, and research here dates back to the Eighties. In 2018, after Biak was in comparison with Morotai and Enggano, LAPAN (Indonesia’s now defunct space agency) formally chosen Biak, publicly confirming the plan in 2019.
The project gained international attention in December 2020 when officials confirmed that President Joko Widodo had discussed space cooperation with Elon Musk. This claim was later disputed, and in March 2021, a ministry spokesman denied that Jokowi had mentioned Biak specifically.
In May 2022, Jokowi went a step further and visited the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas, now home to Starbase. Elon Musk personally gave him a tour of the Starship production site.
Local reports of the “SpaceX launcher” raised concerns amongst indigenous communities, who said that they had not been consulted. No deal was ever finalized.
Recently, Indonesia has moved towards Russia. In December 2024, BRIN (which absorbed LAPAN in 2021) announced a partnership with Roscosmos to implement the Biak project, involving Roscosmos subsidiary Glavkosmos and Indonesian company PT Uniresources Petroleum Indonesia.
In April 2026, BRIN President Arif Satria met with Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov in Moscow to debate technical cooperation, and BRIN currently plans to start out construction in 2026.
Not suitable for each mission
Being near the equator doesn’t make Biak ideal for every part.
Satellites aimed toward polar or sun-synchronous orbits are often launched from higher latitudes because these missions fly north to south somewhat than east to west and don’t gain any profit from the Earth’s rotation.
Indonesia has already placed a satellite in such an orbit.
LAPAN-A3/IPB, in-built cooperation with IPB University to observe forests and farmlands. It was launched in 2016 from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. The site was chosen not for its equatorial speed, but for its clear ocean corridor to the south, ideal for polar trajectories.
Biak works on the alternative principle, which is why it’s a lot better suited to equatorial and geostationary missions than for polar missions.
Conclusion
Indonesia didn’t select Biak since it was empty. He selected Biak because in spaceflight, where you launch is sort of as essential as what you launch.
