Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu visited the Space Systems Integration and Test Center, where the production of Turkey's first domestic and national communication satellite, Türksat 6A, took place. Minister Uraloğlu stated that they plan to deliver the Türksat 6A satellite on the ground in March 2024 and said, "Then, we plan to send this satellite to the launch site in accordance with the agreement made with the Space X company and carry out the necessary launch operations, probably in June." said.
Minister Uraloğlu, in his speech at USET, said that they continue to work on "having a mark in space" in order to have a say in the world at the beginning of the Turkish Century. Uraloğlu said that Turkey's satellite broadcasting adventure, which started with Türksat 1B, continued with the first domestic communication satellite, Türksat. Expressing that they will crown it with 6A, he reminded that the Türksat 6A project was signed on December 15, 2014, with the protocol signed between the Ministry, TÜBİTAK and Türksat, with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Pointing out that the Türksat 6A communication satellite will make Turkey one of the first 11 countries in the world that can produce communication satellites, Uraloğlu said: "When Türksat 6A is completed, it will serve at 42 east longitude. It will be located in a geocentric orbit at a distance of 35 thousand 786 kilometers. "Our local and national communication satellite, which will have a power of 7.5 kilowatts, will have 20 transponders. Our Türksat 6A satellite will serve in Ku Band and will also provide service in new geography such as South-East Asia, which could not be covered by previous Türksat satellites."
Uraloğlu stated that the satellite's mission period will be 15 years, and that critical components such as the flight computer, power distribution unit, electric propulsion engine, fuel tank, power processing and control unit will be produced domestically, reducing foreign dependency in the satellite and space sector with a high localization rate.
Works completed on Türksat 6A
Explaining that the assembly, integration and testing of the Türksat 6A satellite continues in cooperation with Türksat, the Presidency of Defense Industries and TAI, Uraloğlu said: "Currently, there are 3 separate models: 'Thermal Structural Adequacy Model', 'Engineering Model' and 'Flight Model'. In the Türksat 6A satellite project, which is planned to be produced, the production, integration and tests of Thermal Structural and Engineering Models have been completed. 'Engineering Model' integration activities have been completed, system level, first functional tests, thermal vacuum test, vibration test and acoustic test and electromagnetic compatibility tests. It's over."
Uraloğlu stated that the preparations for the system level compact area antenna test (CATR), which is the last test phase, have started, and that the deployment tests of the antenna and solar panels will start in October, and the launcher compatibility and pyro tests and the final alignment tests will start in November. Stating that solar panels integration and mass properties measurement will be carried out in February 2024 after the CATR compact field antenna test, Uraloğlu made the following evaluation: "With the completion of all these tests, our satellite will be ready for delivery to the launch site. During our visit today, we made the evaluations together with all our solution partners." We plan to deliver our Türksat 6A satellite on the ground in March. Afterwards, we plan to send this satellite to the launch site in accordance with the agreement made with Space "There is really effort and effort here. We saw it with pride and appreciation."
Uraloğlu thanked everyone who contributed to the project on behalf of the Turkish nation and wished them continued success.