Markus Junianto Sihaloho – It took two trips to Brazil and the United States, at a total cost to the taxpayer of Rp 2.89 billion ($289,000), for legislators to figure out that satellites are an important part of communications infrastructure.

That was the essence of the rationale from the House of Representatives on Tuesday following the passage of a bill on aerospace management.

Sutan Bhatoegana, the Democratic Party legislator who drafted the bill and led the overseas study trips last December, said it was essential for Indonesia to update its existing legislation on aerospace management, which he defined as "having to do with satellites, which are important for communications."

Sutan, who chairs House Commission VII, overseeing energy and technology, said the state should have more control over the management of satellites, citing the case of tax collection as one area where satellite technology was useful.

"Satellites are sources of information. You can tell how many taxpayers there are through satellites. You don't have to pay for that information. You just click, the result comes out, and you take it. That's the benefit," he said.

He did not elaborate on what needed clicking or how exactly satellites were supposed to keep track of taxpayers.

In his speech at Tuesday's plenary session at the House, Sutan added that Indonesia needed this legislation because "space is a big space out there, and the prosperity of the Indonesian people under the mandate of the Constitution." Again, he did not elaborate.

The less esoteric aspects of the new law include adapting aerospace technology for civilian and defense applications, regulating liability for property damage or deaths or injury as a result of meteorite strikes or falling satellite debris, and boosting international cooperation in aerospace technology.

Sutan claimed the law drew from findings made by legislators during trips to Brazil and the United States to study aerospace legislation there. However, those visits were widely criticized by budget watchdogs and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) for their cost and effectiveness.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) said that the series of trips, made during the House's end-of-year recess last December, cost taxpayers Rp 2.89 billion, nearly half of which was for the business-class round-trip tickets to Brazil alone.

For its part, Lapan said it had recommended the legislators go to India and Ukraine instead, arguing that the lessons from the development of the space programs there would be more applicable for Indonesia than any findings to be gleaned from the Brazil and US programs.

"We wanted India and Ukraine. Brazil and America was the legislators' idea," Ahmad Bekti, Lapan's head of international aerospace policy, said as quoted by Tempo.co shortly after the legislators departed for their trip.

Tuesday's House session closed with Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung banging his gavel to signal the passage of the new law. He added: "And congratulations to Sutan, who is also from outer space."