Palapa was a series of communication satellites owned by Indosat, an Indonesian telecommunication company. Perumtel, the Indonesian telecommunications agency, began service via the Palapa A1 satellite on August 17, 1976, for the 31st anniversary of Indonesian independence.
The name Palapa was bestowed by then Indonesian President Suharto, after the Palapa oath sworn in 1334 by Gajah Mada who was, according to Javanese old manuscripts, poems and mythology, a powerful military leader and Mahapatih or (equal to) Prime Minister of the Indianized Hindu empire of Majapahit, credited with bringing the empire to its peak of glory. The contracts concerning the construction of the domestic satellite system were signed on February 15, 1975, with three American companies.
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