Türkiye to send new communications satellite into space in months

Türkiye will send a Turksat 6A indigenous satellite into space in a few months, the country's industry and technology minister said Friday.

"We are now carrying the experience we gained with imaging satellites to communication satellites. Turksat 6A will be our first national communication satellite," Mehmet Fatih Kacir said in a program at Gaziantep University where he met the nation's first astronaut, Alper Gezeravci.

Kacir said Türkiye will send 6A to space in a few months and it will become one of the 10 countries with the capability.

Turksat 6A is the name of the indigenous satellite that was created as a result of a project contract signed between the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turksat and TUBITAK.

The satellite, Türkiye's largest research and development project, reached the final stage upon assembly, integration and testing phases at the Space Systems Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) Center, built in collaboration with Turksat and the country's drone-maker Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

Turksat 6A, with a power of 7.5 kilowatts, is planned to be positioned at 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) in a geocentric orbit, from where it will reach Southeast Asia, where existing satellites do not provide service.

Turksat currently operates five communication satellites: Turksat 3A, 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B, at 31 degrees, 42 degrees and 50 degrees in east orbits, reaching a population of 3.5 billion around the world.

With the launch of Turksat 6A, countries such as India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia will be within Türkiye's coverage area, thus increasing the population reached by the country's satellites from 3.5 billion to more than 5 billion, which corresponds to 65% of the world's population.

With the commissioning of Turksat 6A, the firm's satellite service exports to the region are planned to increase significantly.