Turkey launched its first domestically produced communications satellite, Turksat 6A, into orbit early on Tuesday, in a move Ankara said would widen the country’s satellite coverage and meet its television broadcasting needs, Reuters reported.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the satellite into space from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
#Canlı | TÜRKSAT 6A Fırlatma Töreni | SpaceX Fırlatma Merkezi / Cape Canaveral Uzay Üssü / Florida / ABD https://t.co/vAcyBelqbc
— Abdulkadir URALOĞLU (@a_uraloglu) July 8, 2024
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the launch marked the opening of a “new phase” for Turkey in satellite production.
“We produced more than 81 percent of the subsystems, satellite ground stations and software in the 6A project with our natural resources, which is of great importance for our country’s future in space,” he said.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said the first signal from Turksat 6A was received 67 minutes after its launched, as planned, adding that the satellite would expand Turkey’s coverage to 5 billion people.
“We will have brought our own communications, our television broadcasts to a safer, better level,” he said, adding Turksat 6A would now allow Turkey to also reach India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Turkey had previously launched satellites using rockets from SpaceX as well. Uraloğlu said Turksat 6A was the result of a 10-year effort to domestically produce a satellite, adding that it meant Turkey had become one of 11 countries to have done so.