Turkey’s first domestic and national communication satellite, Turksat 6A, was launched into space last night with a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX’s launch center in Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, with the participation of Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
Minister Uraloğlu said in a statement following the launch of the satellite that the first signal was received at the 67th minute after the separation of Turksat 6A from the rocket, as planned. Stating that they plan to put Turksat 6A into service until the end of this year, Uraloğlu said, “Our satellite continues its journey towards its orbit at 42 degrees east longitude, 35 thousand 786 kilometers away from here. After reaching its orbit, there will be a one-month test period, and at the end of this year, we plan to put it into service.”
“Turkey has taken its place in the World League”
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that Turkey’s first domestic and national communication satellite TÜRKSAT 6A was successfully launched and continues its journey towards its orbit. Minister Uraloğlu said, “We successfully sent our satellite into space and received our first signal at the 67th minute after the launch as planned. Our satellite continues its journey towards its orbit at 42 degrees east longitude, 35 thousand 786 kilometers away. After reaching its orbit, there will be a one-month test period and we plan to put it into service at the end of this year.”
“Turkey’s Technological Success”
Emphasizing the importance of having come to these days as someone who knew Turkey in the 70s, 80s and 90s, Uraloğlu said, “No one believed that we could do these things. Fortunately, we are witnessing together what Turkey can do under the leadership of our President. In our journey, which started with the will of the late Turgut Özal in 1994, we are proud and happy to have sent our own satellite into space under the leadership of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2024. I would like to thank our former ministers, all our colleagues and everyone who has contributed to our journey to this day. May God grant us the opportunity to do better.”
“We Will Protect Our Space Homeland”
Stating that they will protect Space Homeland and our country’s orbital rights in space with the TÜRKSAT 6A satellite, which was officially launched 10 years ago with the support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and whose production processes have been carried out for about 5 years, Minister Uraloğlu said: “We had 5 active satellites in space that met civil and military communication needs. We added Türksat 6A to these satellites, which can meet the needs of both us and 3.5 billion people in the world, up to 40 percent. Now our coverage area will increase to 5 billion. We will cover all of India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Thus, we will increase the population we reach to 65 percent.”