The Indonesian Institute of Aviation and Space Agency (LAPAN) is on track to launch two satellites in the second quarter of 2011, according to Indonesia Today.

The satellites, named Lapan-A2 and Lapan-Orari, will be used to collect environmental and spatial data to assist with various issues.

Lapan-Orari is a joint venture with the Indonesian Amateur Radio Organisation and will be equipped with multiband spectral imaging cameras with 16.7 meters of ground resolution and 102 kilometres of coverage to monitor land use, natural resources and other environmental factors.

Lapan-A2 will carry a Kappa PAL colour video camera with a resolution of 5.96 meters and coverage of 80 kilometres to monitor ship navigation at sea.

It will also carry an automatic identification system to tag ships of more than 200 tonnes, which are required by the International Maritime Organization to have an AIS tracking device.

Lapan-A2 and Lapan-Orari are categorised as microsatellites, weighing 68 and 70 kilograms, respectively, and have been developed in-house by the agency.

The satellites were designed, assembled and tested in Indonesia, though the cameras they carry are from Germany.

Unlike most remote-sensing satellites, Lapan-A2 and Lapan-Orari will run in an equatorial orbit rather than a polar one, as a polar orbit would not provide good coverage of Indonesia.