Paita: PNG to have own satellite

By GABRIEL KATUHO

UPNG Journalism Student

MINISTER for Finance and National Planning, Rainbo Paita has announced that the government is looking at setting up its own satellite in the future.

Minister Paita said this will see PNG for the first time have its own satellite under the Kumul Satellite One program. 

Paita said he initiated this project when he was a communication minister and so far, the progress looks promising with the help of the current Communication Minister, Timothy Masiu.

“The satellite will be built in Germany and launched by a German company,” Minister Paita said.     

He said the Satellite will help the military, police, customs to deal with the issues like border security, illegal fishing and logging, cyber security and will also help in providing avenue for electronic health and voting.

Minister Paita said that the German company is being made aware of the project and studies has been going on by specific specialized professionals for the project to start. 

He said the project is expected to be rolled out at a cost of about K1.4 billion budget.

Paita announced this last Friday in a press conference.