18.07.2024 02:00
The 5th ignition process of Türksat 6A has been successfully completed. Speaking about the matter, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır said, "With the ignition process that lasted for 5 minutes and 22 seconds, Türksat 6A has now settled into the circular orbit at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers, which is its final mission orbit. In the upcoming months, Türksat 6A will complete its tests in the orbit of approximately 50 degrees and then transfer to its final mission orbit at 42 degrees."
The Minister of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, said that "Türksat 6A has settled into its final mission orbit, which is a circular orbit at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers, with a firing that lasted 5 minutes and 22 seconds."
Kacır, speaking at the Türksat 6A 5th Firing Program held at TÜBİTAK Space, said that they have successfully completed a very important stage in the Türksat 6A Project, which is one of the most important projects of the National Space Program in Turkey's National Technology Initiative journey, with the intelligence and hard work of the engineers and researchers here.
Thanking all the researchers and engineers who have contributed to this project for years, as well as all the employees of Türksat, TÜBİTAK, TUSAŞ, ASELSAN, and C-Tech, Kacır recalled that Turkey's space journey has been a 40-year dream, and that the Ankara Electronic Research and Development Institute was established with a protocol signed between TÜBİTAK and ODTÜ (Middle East Technical University) in 1985.
Kacır stated that during those years, the plans for Turkey to develop its own satellites had actually started to be made, "But unfortunately, the 80s and 90s were years in which political and economic instabilities occurred in Turkey from time to time, and ultimately Turkey could not produce world-class work in the space race. Until the 2000s. After the 2000s, under the leadership of our President, Turkey carried out many successful projects one after another in order to become a country that can develop, produce, and benefit from its own satellites. With BİLSAT, RASAT, GÖKTÜRK, and our high-resolution imaging satellite IMECE, which we sent into space last year, we have achieved a tremendous domestic capability, especially in imaging satellites," he said.
"IT HAS BROUGHT US AN IMPORTANT CAPABILITY" Kacır stated that developing communication satellites is a more ambitious and advanced goal compared to imaging satellites. Emphasizing that Turkey, which previously procured communication satellites from abroad, developed its own communication satellite Türksat 6A for the first time with its own teams, designs, and ultimately sent it into space, Kacır continued: "Türksat 6A is the highest value technology platform and technology product that Turkey has produced to date. With Türksat 6A, Turkey has become one of the 11 countries that can produce its own communication satellite. During the development process of Türksat 6A, we produced 84 different types of equipment domestically in 23 different categories. We successfully completed 396 environmental and functional tests with our own facilities at the USET Center located at TUSAŞ Campus. Ultimately, we achieved a domesticity rate of over 80% in Türksat 6A. With the inclusion of Türksat 6A, Türksat communication satellites have gained the ability to reach the geographies where approximately 5 billion people live. Especially India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have become part of the coverage area of Türksat communication satellites with Türksat 6A. One of the most important firsts we experienced with Türksat 6A was the ability to perform orbit transfers with our own teams. Because this competence has brought us an important capability that we will evaluate in the new satellite and space systems, and new projects that Turkey will develop in the coming years," he said.
TÜRKSAT 6A IN ITS FINAL MISSION ORBIT Reminding that they sent Türksat 6A into space on July 9th, Kacır said, "Our teams received the first signal from the satellite at the 67th minute of the launch. Approximately one hour after the first signal, our teams sent the first command to the satellite. Then we performed the opening of the solar panels, which we consider as an important stage, with the command sent by our teams." He said.
Kacır reminded that they transferred the satellite from the elliptical orbit between 300 kilometers and 70,000 kilometers, where it was moving after separating from the rocket, to the final mission orbit, which is a circular orbit of 35,786 kilometers, by performing four different firings on July 10th, 12th, 14th, and 16th, and witnessed the last transfer operation together. "With a firing that lasted 5 minutes and 22 seconds, Türksat 6A has now settled into its final mission orbit, which is a circular orbit at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers. Now, Türksat 6A will complete its tests in an orbit of approximately 50 degrees and then transfer to the final mission orbit of 42 degrees, and it will be delivered to Türksat to operate for at least 15 years by our teams," he said.
Kacır said that in the coming years, through new satellite projects and the Lunar Mission, which is one of the most important stages of the National Space Program, they will carry these capabilities to much higher levels thanks to their teams.
Kacır said that under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, they will continue to implement many projects to write Turkey's name in space and make Turkey one of the leading countries in space technologies. "I would like to thank our esteemed Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, for his strong support and protection of our Türksat 6A Project and all the National Technology Initiative Programs and projects, TÜBİTAK Space, TUSAŞ, ASELSAN, CTech teams for their ownership and support they have provided to the Türksat 6A Project, and of course our Türksat teams who will use the satellite, for their diligent work throughout the process. Türksat 6A, may it be auspicious and lucky for the Turkish nation," he concluded.