Indonesia Invites SpaceX to Set Up Spaceport

[Lar]

Disclaimer: I have a vested interest. My wife is from Indonesia, most years I spend 2-4 weeks there and I love the place. I haven't been to PNG yet but it's on the list[1]. So of course I'd like it to happen.

That's awesome. I think more people should think more internationally about this subject. If this works out, I don't expect it to happen overnight, but I think this would be great. I imagine the weather is pretty nice there year round as well? I haven't looked into this location, but rockets do need nice weather.

It's tropical. Sometimes it can be sweltering hot but close to sea level you'll NEVER have to worry about being too cold to launch. There are monsoons sometimes, and there might be tropical cyclones. PNG is at the east end of the archipelago so there's open ocean for typhoons to build up and head west. ... That's a bad weather day, but rare...  other than that the weather should not be TOO bad. Earthquakes are a concern everywhere in Indonesia though.

[SciNews]

The New York Times - Will Indonesia Edge Its Way into the Space Race?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/business/indonesia-spaceport-elon-musk.html
"Leaders of the Biak tribe say building a spaceport on the site would mean cutting trees in a protected forest, disturbing the habitat of endangered birds and evicting the Abrauw."
"The Indonesian officials who support the project say Biak, just 70 miles south of the Equator and facing the Pacific, would be ideal for launching rockets."

[mrhuggy]

Indonesia would make a great place for rocket launching and manufacturing. They have a skilled workforce they have a aviation manufacturing business building their own planes and parts for other companies. They are in a good location for launching both northwards and to the east.

However they places that are usable are remote away form the major manufacturing areas and are in places that are having trouble with islamic extremists. The Philippines have the same benefits and problems as Indonesia.

Now if you wanted to do something like SpaceX there is 3 countries that would be viable in position, skilled workforce and  stableness and those would be India, Brazil and Oman/UAE.

[HoratioNelson]

I don't think Indonesia is safe enough for foreign investment for projects on the scale of a Starbase.

See https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-investment-climate-statements/indonesia/:

In 2012, Indonesia banned the export of raw minerals, dramatically increased the divestment requirements for foreign mining companies, and required major mining companies to renegotiate their contracts of work with the government.

However, foreign investors bringing aircraft to Indonesia to serve the aviation sector have faced difficulty in utilizing Cape Town Convention provisions to recover aircraft leased to Indonesian companies.  Foreign owners of leased aircraft that have become the subject of contractual lease disputes with Indonesian lessees have been unable to recover their aircraft in certain circumstances.

Corruption also continues to plague Indonesia’s judiciary, with graft investigations involving senior judges and court staffs.  Many businesses note that the judiciary is susceptible to influence from outside parties.  Certain companies have claimed that the court system often does not provide the necessary recourse for resolving property and contractual disputes and that cases that would be adjudicated in civil courts in other jurisdictions sometimes result in criminal charges in Indonesia.

In addition, companies find Indonesia to have a poor track record on the legal enforcement of contracts, and civil disputes are sometimes criminalized.  Government Regulation No. 79/2010 opened the door for the government to remove recoverable costs from production sharing contracts.  Indonesia has also required mining companies to renegotiate their contracts of work to include higher royalties, more divestment to local partners, more local content, and domestic processing of mineral ore.

So 9 years ago, after international corporations spent billions investing in mines in Indonesia, they were told they couldn't export their ore and had to sell 51% of their shares to Indonesia... I doubt Mr. Musk is interested in owning 49% of a spaceport where it's only legal to launch Indonesian rockets...