The Göktürk-2 satellite, developed by TÜBİTAK and TAI engineers with national resources, has been made ready for launch into space. The satellite, which will start its space journey from China, was sent off to this country with a ceremony.

The Göktürk-2 Project, the first step of which was taken in May 2007, was successfully completed after five and a half years of work by TÜBİTAK and TAI engineers. Göktürk-2, the second earth observation satellite developed with national resources after RASAT, will be launched into space from China between December 15-25. A farewell ceremony was held at TAI Facilities for the satellite to be sent to China.

Minister Ergün Our Target is Turkey Launching Its Own Satellite

Speaking at the ceremony, Nihat Ergün, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, said that Turkey was a country moving forward with high goals and that there were serious developments in almost every field, such as the Göktürk-2 Project. "The hidden energy that exists in this land, in this society, in this nation has started to be revealed," said Minister Ergün, adding that much better days await Turkey.

Stating that following Göktürk-2, important projects will soon be realized in communication satellites as well as earth observation satellites, Ergün said "In the next 10 years, perhaps even before 10 years, Turkey will be one of the countries that not only produces its own satellites, but also launches them into space. Just as we produce and launch satellites for ourselves, we will also become a country that can produce satellites for other countries and launch satellites for them. With such successful projects, we are moving towards becoming a society with high self-confidence with all its individuals, institutions and businesses, overcoming complex sentences such as (We cannot do it, this is beyond us). Complexes are coming to an end and self-confidence is becoming more prominent. The society is beginning to carry a much greater hope and excitement about what the state and its people can do. For example, the steps we have taken in the last 10 years, especially in defense technologies, have really reached a remarkable and proud level. We now have a Turkey that can build its own national tank, national infantry rifle, artillery, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellites.''

Minister Yilmaz Turkey is now in the Space League

Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz said that Turkey is now in the 'space league' with its successful projects, and pointed out that the countries that use space the most are the most developed countries. "The increasing competition between countries such as the USA, India and China has led to the formation of a space league. Turkey has taken its place in this league with this and future activities. Today, having a national space system and technologies is an indispensable and vital issue for national security. With the use of space technologies, disaster damage reduction, risk assessment and management, providing visual information support in crisis management after natural disasters, supporting agricultural activities, crop yield determination, biomass determination studies, controlling forest areas and water basins, infrastructure planning, city development planning, It will be possible to carry out studies in many areas such as topographic map production, mapping and planning of transportation networks, marine and coastal surveys, environmental monitoring and pollution analysis, geological surveys, supporting activities related to the determination of water and natural resources, determination of non-renewable resources and soil surveys."

Prof. Altunbasak: Turkey Solves Earth Observation Satellite Problem

Prof. Dr. Yücel Altunbaşak, President of TUBITAK, announced that a new era has been opened in the field of space technologies with the successful projects in recent years and that if all goes well, the Göktürk-2 satellite will be launched into space in December. Altunbaşak reminded that Turkey's space adventure started in 2001 with the work of TÜBİTAK and said that Turkey launched its first satellite in a short period of 2 years. Stating that Turkey received service from this satellite for 3 years and gained very important experiences, Altunbaşak said that domestic satellite production started with what they learned in this process and that they reaped the fruits of their work with RASAT launched in August 2011. Altunbaşak stated that today, images with a resolution of 7.5 meters were taken from RASAT and that Turkey's two-dimensional image map was about to be completed with these images. Altunbaşak. He said that in December, these images will be made available free of charge for the use of public institutions, universities and the Turkish Armed Forces.

Stating that the Göktürk-2 satellite was completed on schedule with the partnership of TÜBİTAK UZAY and TAI, Altunbaşak said: "Considering Turkey's ten-year adventure in space technologies, this is a serious achievement. Because it is difficult to access trained human resources and infrastructure in areas such as space that require high technology. It also requires a long time and high budgets. It is difficult to progress quickly, but Turkey has achieved this. Turkey has now solved the problem of earth observation satellites."

Muharrem Dörtkaşlı, General Manager of TAI, said that the design, production, assembly and testing phases of the GÖKTÜRK-2 Project, which they started in May 2007, have been successfully completed. Dörtkaşlı said that this project, which aims to meet the satellite imagery needs of the Turkish Armed Forces in particular, as well as the needs of other public institutions and organizations, aims to utilize the possibilities of developing technology, expert manpower and infrastructure in the field of space, and added: "It is important to initiate new satellite projects without losing time in order to prevent the loss and development of these experiences and know-how."

Following the speeches, with the participation of Nihat Ergün, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology; Yılmaz, Minister of National Defence; Altunbaşak, President of TÜBİTAK; Murad Bayar, Undersecretary for Defence Industries; Yalçın Kaya, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TAI; Muharrem Dörtkaşlı, General Manager of TAI; and Mustafa Avcı, Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Defence, the closing certificate of the Göktürk-2 satellite before its journey to China was signed. Minister Ergün and Minister Yılmaz then presented plaques to those who contributed to the project, and went to the satellite in the "clean room" to inspect it.

Göktürk-2 to be launched into space on December 15-25

With a weight of 450 kilograms and a resolution of 2.5 meters, the Göktürk-2 satellite was produced in accordance with the satellite development principles applied in the world. The software and the mission computer of the satellite, which was sent off to China, were developed 100 percent indigenously. Göktürk-2 will be able to instantly download the images it receives from Turkey and its surroundings to Turkey. The satellite, which will enter orbit simultaneously with the sun at an altitude of 700 kilometers above the ground, will also be able to take images from any point in the world. The satellite will circle the earth every 93 minutes. It will pass over the north and south poles once per revolution. The satellite will be launched from the Jiquan spaceport in China's Gobi Desert between December 15-25.