Telkom-4

This satellite carries 60 active transponders consisting of 24 C-Band transponders and 12 Extended C-Band transponders which will serve the Southeast Asia region, including Indonesia, as well as 24 C-Band transponders which will reach the South Asia region. The satellite relies on the SSL 1300 satellite bus with a design life of 16 years with up to 21 years of fuel remaining. The development of the Merah Putih Satellite involves two U.S. companies, namely SSL as a satellite manufacturer and SpaceX as a launch service provider. The total mass of the satellite is 5800 kg. Telkom-4 is devoted to serving high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts, GSM and Internet services.

Telkom-4 satellite was launched using SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 B1046.2 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida, United States on 7 August 2018, at 01:18 UTC. The launch of the Telkom-4 satellite marks the first time SpaceX has reused one of the Block 5 variant of the Falcon 9 rocket boosters,[6] Block 5 is the last variant of the Falcon 9 that the CEO, Elon Musk, hopes to go back and forth in space up to 10 times without significant refurbishment. Previous versions of this rocket were only capable of flying into space twice. After successfully making a flight, Falcon 9 landed on one of SpaceX drone ships, Of Course I Still Love You.

The launch of the Telkom-4 (Merah Putih) satellite saves around 25% of the cost of launching the previous satellite, the Telkom-3S satellite, which was launched on 15 February 2017, which cost US$215 million. Meanwhile, the Merah Putih satellite only costs US$165 million and includes insurance costs of US$10 million.[7]

Due to the inadequacy of the Palapa-D satellite to operate until July 2020, while the replacement satellite, Nusantara Dua (Palapa N1),[8] failed to reach orbit, many TV and radio channels migrated from Palapa-D to Telkom-4.[9] Below is a list of frequency of channels that have migrated as of July 2020:[10]

• Telkom Group – Official Website PT.Telekomunikasi Indonesia.tbk
• Telkomsat – Satellite Operator's Official Website
• Lyngsat Telkom-4 at 108.0°E – channel frequency list