Türksat 6A project, which will be Turkey's first domestic communication satellite, is approaching the end of the design phase.
At the meeting the Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication, Ahmet Arslan along with the Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, Faruk Özlü discussed the latest situation concerning the “Türksat 6A Domestic Communication Satellite Development and Production Project.”
In addition to Özlü and Arslan, officials from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ/TAI), ASELSAN and CTech were also present.
With the financial support of the Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication and Türksat, TÜBİTAK Space Technology Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY) acting as the main contractor, and the support of TUSAŞ, ASELSAN, CTech, domestic industrial establishments and universities, the project which started at the end of 2014 has reached the end of the design phase. The qualification test models for the designed satellite have started to be produced.
“Türksat 6A costs about 600 million liras”
The qualification tests for Türksat 6A, which are planned for the beginning of 2018, is expected to be sent to space in the year 2020. The production of Türksat 6A, which continues its design operation at the Space Systems Integration and Testing Center (USET) at TAI facilities, is carried out with the participation of Turkish engineers trained in France and Japan. Türksat 6A has the characteristic of being the first communication satellite to be produced completely with domestic amenities, unlike Turkey's previous communication satellites. In the domestic satellite project, which will cost about 600 million Turkish Liras, the equipment, software and many subsystems to be used in the satellite and ground stations are being developed with domestic resources.
Türksat 6A, with fuel included will have a mass of about 4,300 kilograms, will be placed in the 42° East longitude orbital location. Türksat 6A will serve customers in Turkey, as well as in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The satellite with its technical features will have 18 active, 5 spare, 23 transponders in total.
Turkey, with the Türksat 6A satellite planned to remain in orbit for 15 years, will become one of the 10 countries that can produce communications satellites.