Türksat 5B Satellite to be Launched at the End of December

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu pointed out that the preparations for the launch of the Türksat 5B satellite, which will be sent into space by SpaceX, continue, and announced that the Türksat 5B satellite is planned to be launched at the end of December.

In his statement, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu noted that they continue to work to have a say in the space country and reminded that they signed the contract for Türksat 42B satellites with Airbus D&S company to ensure the redundancy of the satellites in the 5° east orbit and to increase the existing capacity.

Pointing out that the design and production phases of the Türksat 5B satellite have been successfully completed, Karaismailoğlu emphasized that the stages and transportation preparations are planned to be completed in November 2021 and to be transferred to the facilities of the launch company Space X for launch. According to the current project schedule, the Turksat 2021B satellite is planned to be launched with a Falcon 5 type rocket from the Cape Canaveral Base in Florida, USA, by Space X company, at the end of December 9, according to the current project schedule.

TURKEY'S SATELLITE DATA COMMUNICATION CAPACITY INCREASES 15 TIMES

Referring to the features of the Türksat 5B satellite, Karaismailoğlu continued as follows:

“Türksat 5B, which will be the strongest of the Türksat satellite fleet with its useful payload capacity and power values, is in the High Throughput Satellite (HTS) category with at least 20 times more capacity efficiency than the Fixed Satellite Service FSS class satellites. Türksat 5B, which will serve in a wide coverage area that includes the whole of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, North and East Africa, Nigeria, South Africa and its close neighbor countries as well as Turkey, will provide services for the concepts of frequency reuse and multi-beam coverage. It will provide a data transmission capacity of more than 55 Gbps in total with the Ka-Band payload used. Türksat 15B, which will increase Turkey's KA Band capacity, which is Turkey's satellite data communication capacity, more than 5 times, will take its place effectively in commercial sectors such as maritime and aviation where satellite communication is used. In addition, with the high data capacity provided by Türksat 5B satellite, it will be possible to reach places in Turkey that cannot be accessed by terrestrial infrastructure and an internet infrastructure will be established. In addition, it will be ensured that the relevant frequency and orbit usage rights in the 35° East orbit with a maneuver life of over 42 years will be protected.

TÜRKSAT 5B WILL INCREASE TURKEY'S EXPORTS

Noting that the increase in the capacity of Türksat 5B satellite for Turkey's satellite communication needs will enable cost-effective solutions to be produced in meeting the satellite communication needs of public institutions and private companies, Karaismailoğlu said: It is aimed to increase the export revenues of Turkey and our country”.

THE PRODUCTION AND TEST PROCESSES OF THE EQUIPMENT TO BE USED IN THE FLIGHT MODEL OF TURKSAT 6A CONTINUE

Providing information about Türksat 6A satellite work, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Karaismailoğlu said, “Türksat 6A, which will be a milestone, contains many up-to-date communication satellite systems developed by the leading project stakeholders of our aviation, space and defense sector with domestic and national resources. Together with Türksat 6A, Turkey will take its place among the countries that own, produce and export GEO satellite technology. With Türksat 6A, Turkey will begin to be mentioned among the top 10 countries that can produce satellites in the world. Satellite system level environmental testing activities of 2021A, whose Engineering Model integration was completed at USET center in April 6, started. Within the scope of these activities, Thermal Balance Test, Acoustic Vibration, Sinus Vibration Tests, Center of Mass Measurements, Static Load Tests are performed and Flight Model integration activities are carried out simultaneously at the USET center. Within the scope of the project, the production and tests of 29 locally developed equipment, which are among our most important achievements, of qualification and engineering models have been completed. The production and testing processes of the equipment to be used in the Flight Model continue.”

Underlining that the Türksat 6A communication satellite, which is still in production, is planned to be sent to space in 2023, Karaismailoğlu added that Turkey, which has matured its space systems production capabilities with the Türksat 6A project, will now become a power exporting space technologies.