Indonesia has presented itself as a potential rocket launcher for Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture.
The Southeast Asian country is already in talks with Mr Muskin Tesla about an electric battery partnership.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Coordination for Maritime and Investment Affairs, President Joko Widodo is in talks with Mr Musk.
Tesla billionaire sends a team to Indonesia in January to look at potential investments.
Building a plant in Central Java is one way to be discussed.
Indonesia has large deposits of copper, nickel and tin and aims to produce the world’s largest electric vehicle batteries.
“Nickel is the biggest challenge for large, long-distance batteries! Australia and Canada are doing very well. US nickel production is objectively very lame. Indonesia is the best!” Mr Musk tweeted earlier this year.
But apart from the investment partnership with Tesla, Mr Widodo asked Mr Musk to explore the possibility of setting up a space launch site in Indonesia.
“President Joko Widodo is calling [Musk] Indonesia should be seen as a launch pad for SpaceX, ”the ministry said.
Indonesia’s National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LABAN) plans to build its first spacecraft. It is located in the city of Piaget on the island of Papua.
Its large-scale space development requires international investors and SpaceX is one of its most accessible partners.
Tesla already has a manufacturing presence in the region through its Shanghai Gigafactory. The Chinese plant now produces 250,000 cars a year.
Mr Musk said the Shanghai-built Model 3 would soon begin exporting to Europe.
The American businessman also unveiled the latest prototype of his starship vehicle from Texas last week.
Codenamed SN8, the 50-meter-tall vehicle crashed in Touchdown, but Mr Musk was pleased with how far the test trip had gone.