By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- A first for Turkiye is Turksat 6A, Turkiye’s first domestically developed and produced communications satellite. In a press conference, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said: “Turkiye currently has five communications and four observation satellites in orbit, and we not only used them or our needs but also in providing services to other countries.” Uraloglu spoke at the Space Systems Assembly, Integration and Test Center at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) campus in Ankara. Minister Uraoglu confirmed that Turksat 6A will be sent to the U.S. in June and is expected to be launched into space in July. The minister added: “As of now, we cover Europe, the Middle East, the Turkic nations, parts of East Asia and a significant portion of Africa, mostly North Africa.” He said the goal with this satellite is that: “Türksat 6A will increase satellite coverage, as it will cover India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, increasing our coverage of approximately 3.5 billion people to around 5 billion.”
Turksat 6A has a 7.5-kilowatt power capacity and is scheduled to be positioned at 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) in a geocentric orbit from there, it will reach Southeast Asia where there currently isn’t any satellite service provider. As Uraloglu explained: “Communication is significant for us, especially military communication. Although we can currently provide such services, we had to develop our own solutions, so we made the Türksat 6A satellite, which is planned to be sent into space sometime between July 8 and 14.” Currently, Turksat operates five communication satellites: Turksat 3A, 4A, 5A and 5B at 31 degrees, 42 degrees and 50 degrees in east orbits, reaching populations of 3.5 billion globally. After Turksat 6A is launched, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia will be within Turkiye’s coverage area. Uraloglu said this increases the population that can be reached by Turkiye’s satellites from 3.5 billion to over 5 billion. That translates to 65% of the world’s population, which will exponentially increase Turkiye’s satellite service exports to the region.
