TÜRKSAT 6A launched into space

Turkey's first domestic and national communications satellite, Türksat 6A, began its space journey at 02:30 Turkish time from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA.

The ceremony held at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the launch of Türksat 6A was attended by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, President of the Presidency of Defense Industries Haluk Görgün, Türksat General Manager Hasan Hüseyin Ertok, President of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, General Manager of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) Mehmet Demiroğlu, ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol, CTECH General Manager Cüneyd Fırat, and other officials.

Developed by Turkish engineers, the first domestic and national satellite, Türksat 6A, was sent into space from Launch Complex 40 at 02:30 Turkish time via a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to the company SpaceX.

The launch operation, which had been postponed several times due to adverse weather conditions, was carried out with a delay.

IT WILL SERVE IN ITS ORBIT AT 42 DEGREES EAST LONGITUDE

Türksat 6A is expected to separate from the rocket approximately half an hour after the launch. It is anticipated that the first signal will be received about 70 minutes after the satellite separates from the rocket.

Following the successful launch of Türksat 6A into space, all orbital and subsystem checks will be performed via ground stations, and the satellite will begin its journey toward its orbit at 42 degrees east longitude.

Upon completion of this journey, the orbital testing phase will begin, and after at least one month of testing, Türksat 6A will be handed over to Türksat and become operational.

THE POPULATION REACHED BY TURKEY'S SATELLITES WILL EXCEED 5 BILLION

Positioned 35,786 kilometers from Earth, Türksat 6A will serve with 20 Ku-band transponders. With the 4,229-kilogram, 8.4-kilowatt Türksat 6A, the coverage area served by Türksat will expand to include India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

With the satellite becoming operational, Turkey will be able to reach more than 65 percent of the world's population with its own communications satellites. The population reached by Turkey's satellites will increase from 3.5 billion to over 5 billion.

Türksat 6A was produced by Turkish engineers at the Space Systems Integration and Test Center (USET) at TUSAŞ in Ankara, with a domestic production rate of over 80 percent. In the Türksat 6A Project, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and Türksat are the clients, TÜBİTAK UZAY is the project manager, and ASELSAN, TUSAŞ, and CTECH are the project executing institutions.