On September 3 this year,Vladimir Putin called Indonesia one of Moscow’s “trusted friends” in ASEAN, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto told the room in Vladivostok thatRussia and Indonesia “interact as equals.” The two leaders were discussing a joint spaceport on Biak, an island off Indonesia’s Papua coast.
Author: Vania Trixie Widodo
Independent researcher in politics and international relations.
ASEAN’s Space Problem Is ASEAN Itself
In space, ASEAN’s non-interference principle is doing precisely what it was built to do and that is the problem. In March 2026, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn spoke in Manila, pointing to a new tracking station on Biak Island, Indonesia, as a critical step in building out a regional space economy projected to hit 100 billion US dollar by 2030.