Satellite Orbiting Rocket Number 420 (Indonesian

Indonesian language

Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....

: Roket Pengorbit Satelit 420, abbreviated as RPS-420) is Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

's proposed satellite launching rocket that if successful, will carry Indonesia's first indigenous satellite into Low Earth Orbit

Low Earth orbit

A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...

 in 2014.

Roket Pengorbit Satelit family

RPS or "Pengorbitan" (Indonesian for "orbital") is a family of ultra-light space

Outer space

Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....

 launch vehicle

Launch vehicle

In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

s developed by Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. Currently it only has suborbital capabilities and could serve as a platform for high altitude outer atmosphere studies

Sounding rocket

A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

. Indonesia plans to develop orbital microsatellite

Miniaturized satellite

Miniaturized satellites or small satellites are artificial satellites of unusually low weights and small sizes, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass .One reason for miniaturizing...

 launching capabilities with the RPS to launch small satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

s into low Earth orbit

Low Earth orbit

A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...

 (LEO). This project was first revealed to the public during the Indo Defence Expo-2008 exhibition in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

.

The multistage launchers

Multistage rocket

A multistage rocket is a rocket that usestwo or more stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or...

 are being developed by the state company Spacetecx for Indonesia's National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN)

National Institute of Aeronautics and Space

National Institute of Aeronautics and Space is the Indonesian government space agency. It was established on November 27, 1964 by former Indonesian president Suharto after one year's existence of an informal space agency organization. LAPAN is responsible for long-term civilian and military...

. They will be launched from a mobile pad

Launch pad

A launch pad is the area and facilities where rockets or spacecraft lift off. A spaceport can contain one or many launch pads. A typical launch pad consists of the service and umbilical structures. The service structure provides an access platform to inspect the launch vehicle prior to launch....

 at Lapan Space Center

Lapan Space Center

Lapan Space Center is a facility for rocket launches at Tjulitan, West Java, Indonesia at 6°16' S and 106°52' E. It is used for launching the RX-250-LPN.-External links:* , Encyclopedia Astronautica...

, where RX-250-LPN

RX-250-LPN

-Technical data:*Apogee: 70 kilometres*Liftoff thrust: 52 kilonewtons*Total mass: 300 kilograms*Core diameter: 0.25 metres*Total length: 5.30 metres...

 mini-rockets have blasted off already.

Pengorbitan-1 will be a four-stage rocket with the ability to place 25 kg satellites in LEO. Its first launch is expected in 2012. Reaching orbit will make Indonesia a new space power in Asia

Asian space race

Several Asian countries have national space programs, and they are considered to be competing with each other to achieve scientific and technological advancements in space. The media has occasionally called this competition the Asian space race. The exploration of Outer space is of strategic...

.

The five-stage Pengorbitan-2 will launch a 50 kg payload to LEO and is intended to operate from 2014.