Date and time announced: Turksat 6A goes to space

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Lerato Khumalo

Turkey’s first domestic and national communications satellite, Türksat 6A, is being prepared for the day it will be launched into space at the Cape Canaveral Space Center in the US state of Florida.

Tüksat 6A was sent off to the USA with a ceremony held at Mürted Airport on June 4, with the participation of Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu and Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that Türksat 6A, for which launch procedures will begin at SpaceX facilities, will be launched into orbit at 00:20 Turkish time on the night of July 8-9.

Türksat 6A was produced by Turkish engineers at USET in TUSAŞ in Ankara with a local content rate of over 80%. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and TÜRKSAT AŞ were the customer institutions in the Türksat 6A Project, TÜBİTAK UZAY was the project management institution, and ASELSAN, TUSAŞ and C2TECH companies were the project implementing institutions.

Türkiye WILL RISE TO THE POSITION OF SATELLITE EXPORTER

Turksat 6A will be positioned at a distance of 35,786 kilometers in a 42-degree east orbit. Turksat 6A, which has a power of 7.5 kilowatts and weighs 4,250 kilograms, will bring India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, which are not served by existing satellites, into Turksat’s coverage area.

The population reached by satellites will increase from 3.5 billion to 5 billion. With the entry into service of Türksat 6A, it is aimed to significantly increase Türksat’s satellite service exports to the region.

Turkey, which is among the few countries that can produce communication satellites, is also targeted to become a satellite exporter after the Turksat 6A experience.