Turkey has unveiled a ten-year national space program, which includes launching a moon-bound space mission in 2023, coinciding with the republic’s centenary.
“The main and most important mission of the program is to make the first contact with the Moon in the centenary year of our republic in 2023,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presentation of the TUA logo, cited by the Anatolu news agency.
Noting that the goal will be completed in two stages, Erdogan said that in the first stage there would be a hard landing on the Moon with a national hybrid rocket that will be put into orbit at the end of 2023 through international cooperation.
“By completing this task, we will be one of the countries that has managed to reach the Moon, and we will collect the necessary information for the second stage of the mission,” he said.
In the second stage in 2028, the launch will be via Turkey’s own rockets, Erdogan noted, adding: “As we make a soft landing on the Moon, we will be one of the few countries that could conduct scientific activities there. “.
The Luna Program will build on Turkey’s advancements in launch, rocket and control technologies, he stressed.
The second objective of the space program is to create a trademark in the development of next-generation satellites, for which the satellite production activities will be brought together under a single authority coordinated by the TUA, the Turkish Space Agency.
“We plan to gain a greater share of the global satellite market by improving our competitiveness thanks to this move,” he explained.
REGIONAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
Under its national space program, Turkey aims to establish a regional positioning and timing system, Erdogan noted.
With this regional positioning system, which will be created with an innovative method using satellites in conjunction with ground systems, Turkey will end its external dependence, he stressed.
“This will pave the way to develop our own precise navigation applications in defense, agriculture, urbanization, and autonomous vehicles,” said the president.
SPACE PORT AND TURKISH ASTRONAUT
Turkey plans to establish a space port while ensuring access to space, Erdogan emphasized. “We should build our national and domestic rockets to carry heavy payloads to Earth orbit,” he stressed.
Erdogan pointed out that Turkey’s geographical location is not convenient for establishing the spaceport and said that Turkey would cooperate with allied countries in the most suitable areas.
He also assured that the country will develop efficient and competent human resources in the field of space, and said that the “ultimate goal is to send a Turkish citizen into space with a scientific mission.”
