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FEATURE / ANGKASA-X
A NOBLE ENDEAVOUR Once in a while someone comes up with a noble endeavour like this one – to make internet available to all, regardless of their location. Regular Malaysians can be a part of this effort through an equity crowdfunding (ECF) exercise that promises good returns on their investment.
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t is so easy for us to surf the Internet, get on social media, buy and sell things online that we sometimes forget, due to their location, some Malaysians are unable to have a stable network what more any Internet connectivity. Those in the remote areas such as on far off islands, on highlands deep inland, offshore oil rigs and if you go out of your way off the beaten track, these areas often have patchy, slow or zero Internet access. Even if there are communities living in these areas, on the roughly 30,000 islands dotting the Southeast Asian region, it makes no practical sense for a telecommunications provider to roll out cables right to their doorsteps. In these areas, satellite technology is a viable alternative to connectivity, specifically the less costly low earth orbit (LEO) satellites that circle closer to Earth, at between 500km and
14 MY•IT
2,000km above the earth as opposed to traditional communication satellites that are stationed far higher at 36,000km. It is estimated that the world will see the launch of some 75,000 LEO satellites in the next decade. In a bid to grab a slice of this pie, Malaysian company Angkasa-X has concrete plans to launch not one but 500 of such satellites starting next year. The 500 satellites – designed and built in Malaysia – will be set to orbit close to the Equator, and will make up what is known as the A-SEANLINK LEO Satellites Constellation. Why 500? Because that’s the number of satellites required to cover the ASEAN region. These will circle the earth and primarily serve ASEAN nations, where half of the population have no Internet
connectivity. Through this enterprise, the company will also create an international SpaceTech Park in Malaysia from which a space science and tech ecosystem will flourish and play a pivotal role in the development of the regional space economy. Angkasa-X will then provide Satellite-as-a-Service (SaaS) by renting out its celestial hardware. “Governments and companies now need not invest huge amounts of money to establish infrastructure,
