The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was detonated from a launch center in the U.S. state of Florida to launch a next-generation Turkish communications satellite into orbit late Thursday.
A 70-meter-high (230-foot-high) U.S. aerospace company rocket was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying a Türksat 5A satellite.
“With the Türksat 5A satellite, Turkey is getting its orbital rights for the next 30 years,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday.
Equipped with the latest technology and higher capacity, Türksat 5A will provide television services and develop broadband data networks. It will be located in an unused Turkish orbital slot at 31 degrees east.
As soon as the newly launched satellite goes into orbit, Turkey’s active satellite in space will rise to seven, Erdoğan told the special session of satellite Technologies Week via videoconference at Vahdettin Mansion.
Three of the satellites currently in space are working for communications, namely Türksat 3A, Türksat 4A and Türksat 4B, and the other three, Göktürk-1, Göktürk-2 and Rasat, are for observation.
The Türksat 5A will set into orbit in four months and begin service in the second half of 2021, according to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, which also said that the frequency and orbital rights of the country are certain for the -ath 30 years.
Erdoğan said the satellite will cover Europe, the Middle East and large regions of Africa as well as the Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea region.
“With this satellite, which has a wide range of services, we also support our existing communications satellites. Turkey is one of 30 countries entitled to orbit in space, ”he said.
The mission also marked the first release in 2021 for SpaceX and the Falcon 9 rocket workhorse. It also started what should have been a very busy year for Elon Musk’s company.
“Launch,” Musk tweeted as they broadcast live of a Turkish satellite launch.
Türksat 5A issued its first sign 35 minutes after the announcement, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said on Friday, as the satellite was on track to settle into the orbit.
“This trip will take four months. We will then do our tests, and the satellite will be activated, ”he said.
Satellite to start service in the second half of 2021
Turkey signed an agreement with global aerospace company Airbus in 2017 for the production of Türksat 5A and 5B orbiters.
Türksat 5A was built through the collaboration of Türksat, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Airbus Defense and Space. It was delivered to Türksat officials on October 2, 2020.
Liftoff was previously designed, but the publication has been delayed several times.
The satellite will provide Ku-band television broadcasting services. It will carry 42 responders and will be located in an unused Turkish orbital slot at 31 degrees east after the entire orbit and subsystem controls were performed across the stations.
The control of the satellite will be transferred to the Gölbaşı satellite Solar Station in the Turkish capital Ankara, and the new satellite will be subjected to performance tests for about a month with orders placed there.
The satellite service is expected to start in the second half of 2021.
Speaking to Satellite Technologies Week, Karaismailoğlu said the launch is a testament to bigger and more proud stages.
He vowed that the country will continue to upgrade its satellite technology, focusing on the future of space, beyond observation or communications satellites.
“The excitement and enthusiasm we are experiencing is too great to respond to words. However, this step is the basis of bigger and more proud standards, ”he said of the launch of Türksat 5A.
Native satellite to launch in 2022
Erdoğan went on to say that Turkey plans to launch its IMECE native high-resolution observation satellite into space next year.
“Our goal is to orbit Türksat 6A, Turkey’s first communications satellite, in orbit in 2022,” Erdoğan said.
Türksat 6A production is ongoing and uses entirely domestic products in the capital Ankara.
It is the result of cooperation between the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as well as organizations and companies such as leading defense company ASELSAN, TAI and CTech, along with Türksat and the country’s leading scientific body, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK).
It will place Turkey among the 10 countries that are able to make their own satellites. The contract for Türksat 6A was signed on 15 December 2014.
2030 place program to be announced soon
The country’s National Space Program 2021-2030 will also be unveiled shortly by the Turkish Space Agency, the president said.
The group was established in December 2018 to pave the way for the establishment of a competitive indigenous industry and to test the strategies and policies regarding space technologies.
Erdoğan also said that microsatellites are becoming increasingly prominent in the satellite field, confirming that intensive preparations are underway for the development of such satellites and their deployment to space from Turkey.
“For this reason, we are setting up a microsatellite launch facility in our country. We support satellite development activity in our public institutions, universities and the private sector, ”said the president.
Türksat 5B to orbit in June
Türksat 5A is poised to open a new era in Turkey’s broadcasting services, along with empowering the country to export services, Karaismailoğlu said.
Assuming that the movement and service life of Türksat 5A, which will be in space for 30 years – much longer than other satellites – the minister said the weight of the satellite, which requires 12 kilowatts (kW) of power , 3,500 kilograms (about 7,716 pounds).
He said the country will continue its work on space and space technologies, saying tests are underway on Türksat 5B, which is expected to launch into orbit in June this year.
Türksat 5B will be put into orbit at 42 degrees East and is expected to boost the country’s Ka-band capacity.
Karaismailoğlu also said that, with the commissioning of Türksat 5A and Türksat 5B, Turkey’s frequency rights will be preserved as long as they receive new frequency rights for communications satellites for future generations.
Karaismailoğlu noted that the integration activity of Türksat 6A’s domestic production, engineering and flight model is continuing at the same time and that there will be good news regarding the project soon.
Speaking ahead of the announcement, Turkey’s Ö Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan Türksat 5A announced “one of the latest generation satellites that will allow us to develop our capabilities in space.”
“With Türksat 5A, we would first protect our orbital rights and provide commercial services through broadcasting and communications, in particular internet services with the Ku-band to rural areas,” he told -report in front of the mission control of SpaceX center in Cape Canaveral.
Sayan said it will take about 140 days for Türksat 5A to enter orbit. The satellite is then tested for a month. It will be controlled at the Türksat facility in the capital Ankara.
Turkish Satellites
The first Türksat 1A communications satellite in Turkey was launched into orbit on January 24, 1994, but crashed into the ocean 12 minutes after take-off due to a surgeon’s error, and the mission failed.
Sustaining investments in satellite technology, Turkey took place in space in August 1994 with Türksat 1B satellite.
Rasat: The first local observation satellite
The Rasat observation satellite is the second remote sensing satellite of TÜBITAK Space after the first Bilsat ground observation satellite in Turkey.
Designed and manufactured in Turkey, Rasat was launched from Russia on August 17, 2011.
Although the original design life of the Rasat satellite was three years, the ninth year in orbit succeeded as of 17 August 2020.
The Rasat satellite, in a circular orbit synchronized with the Sun and at an altitude of 700 kilometers (435 miles), operates with 7.5 meters of monochrome and 15 meters of multiband space resolution push-camera.
Turkey’s other Göktürk-1 Earth observation satellite, which aims to meet the high profile need of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for target intelligence, was launched in 2016.
Located at low altitude ground orbit, the satellite can perform a number of remote sensing tasks such as environmental and housing monitoring, agricultural production detection, urban practices, border control and cadastral functions for public institutions and organizations.
The life of the 0.5-meter resolution satellite, designed to be studied anywhere in the world without geographical restrictions, is expected to be seven years.
Gökturk-2: The first high-resolution observation satellite
The first Göktürk-2 high-resolution observation and monitoring satellite in Turkey was launched on 18 December 2012.
It was a project funded by TÜBITAK and led by the TAI and TÜBITAK Space team under the coordination of the Ministry of National Defense.
It can provide digital and geographic data output with the target information required by the TSK and Air Force Command in particular.
The satellite has high-speed data communication that can download an image of a nearly 640-kilometer (397-mile) lane in a single pass.
The Gökturk-2 project aimed to develop technology, expert manpower and infrastructure for space and satellite systems and meet the observation and research needs of public institutions and organizations with national capabilities.