On an Indonesian island there is a legal battle between the central government and the Abrauw tribe: the next launches to space could start from there, but someone doesn't want them
There are some areas of the Earth from which it is easier to launch rockets into space: they are those along the Equator line, where the speed of rotation of our planet is greater. An important factor when deciding to send an object into space.
Many countries are crossed by the Equator. Among them, Indonesia, and in particular its island Biak. Where a fierce battle is being fought between those who would like to use it as a launch base to space and those who claim it as land belonging to the people.
What's happening on Biak Island
The Indonesian government, and in particular Prime Minister Joko Widodo, says it has bought 250 acres of land on Biak Island particularly favorable to space launches, near the town of Warbon. Since 2017, he has been planning to build a spaceport there, and has even invited Elon Musk to launch his rockets from there.
But on that same land has lived since time immemorial the Abrauw tribe, who are extremely tied to their land: it is their source of income, survival and also a link to their ancestors and identity. The tribe opposes the construction of the spaceport.
Building a spaceport is just one of the pieces towards the modernization of Indonesia desired by Widodo, who has often been disinterested in the climatic and environmental consequences of his actions. For example, in order to launch rockets from Biak Island, hundreds of trees would have to be cut down in a primeval forest.
Members of the Abrauw tribe won't mince their words: "We don't want the spaceport: we don't eat rockets, we eat taro and ocean fish. Tell it to Elon Musk," said tribal leader Apolos Sroyer. Musk, however, has not yet expressed a public opinion on Widodo's proposal.
The History of Biak
Biak is a very small and very remote island located north of New Guinea. During World War II, it was a battlefield between the Americans, who won, and the Japanese. It came under the control of Indonesia in 1960, when the Netherlands vacated its colonies.
There are 360 tribes living on the island, and the Abrauw tribe now has 90 members, who live near the northeastern town of Warbon. Central to their beliefs is a flowering heliotrope tree on the shores of the Ocean: two things, the tree and access to the Ocean from which they fish, that would be wiped out with the construction of the spaceport.
According to those who support the construction of the spaceport, the island's location is a source of wealth. "Someone has gold, someone has oil - Indonesia has the Equator," says one official.