The first communications satellite designed and produced in Turkey, the Türksat 6A, entered service yesterday, nine months after being launched into space, during a ceremony led by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, who highlighted Turkey’s growing technological capacity and autonomy.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s own website, during the ceremony Erdoğan highlighted that with the entry into service of Türksat 6A, Turkey now has 10 satellites in space. With an expected lifespan of at least 15 years, it was launched into space in July 2024 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral and will provide communication services, especially television, over a wide region of the planet.
‘With Türksat 6A, which we have developed with a domestic production rate of 80%, Turkey has become one of 11 countries capable of producing its own communications satellites,’ said the Turkish president. The previous Türksat satellites covered orbits at 31, 42 and 50 degrees East, reaching a population of 3.5 billion people. But Türksat 6A will significantly expand that reach, extending coverage to new regions, particularly in Southeast Asia, including countries such as India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
‘With Türksat 6A, the population reached by our satellites worldwide will increase from 3.5 billion to 5 billion people,’ Erdoğan announced. ‘By covering more than 60% of the world’s population, we have become one of the most advanced countries in space technology,’ the Turkish president added.
The manufacture and launch of the new Türksat 6A satellite is part of Turkey’s ambitious space programme, which sets out a series of objectives to be completed this decade, including sending the first Turkish astronaut into space (already achieved), the development of a new generation of its own satellites and a regional satellite positioning system, the launch of a first mission to the Moon, and also the construction of a spaceport, probably located in Africa, from which to launch rockets developed in Turkey.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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