Türksat 5A goes live
June 30, 2021
By Chris Forrester
Turkey’s latest satellite, Türksat 5A, has been commercialised by the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a commissioning ceremony. Türksat 5A operates from 31 degrees East.
President Erdoğan also told attendees that its latest satellite Türksat 6A, now under construction, would launch next year. Turkey is building the satellite itself, and Erdoğan said that Turkey will be among the 10 countries in the world that can produce communication satellites.
The Türksat 5A satellite is designed to serve a wide number of regions, including Turkey, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Aegean, the Black Sea, the Middle East, North Africa, Mid-West Africa and South Africa, he stated, noting that the manoeuvre life of the satellite would be 35 years.
The tests of the Türksat 5B satellite, whose design and production phases have been completed, are ongoing, he said. They aim to send the satellite into space in the last quarter of this year, again with a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, Erdoğan stated.
With Türksat 5A, the number of Turkey’s active communication satellites in space reached four alongside Türksat 3A, Türksat 4A, and Türksat 4B. Türksat 5B will add to the fleet this winter and Türksat 6A next year.