Established on December 13, 2018, the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) has accomplished important work in a short period of six years. He made everyone proud by sending the first Turkish astronauts into space.
TUA, continuing its work within the National Space Program, has six priority objectives. TUA President Yusuf Kıraç explained these goals to TRT Haber.
“We are making progress in line with the country’s goals”
Recalling that space projects in Turkey began with satellite studies in the mid-1980s, Kıraç said, “But the comprehensive economic, strategic and scientific studies began with the National Space Program announced by our President three years ago. The National Space Program is now at an advanced level in this regard. “It includes the goals of the countries, and we set ourselves the task of achieving this,” he said.
Details of space experiments will be announced soon
Recalling that 2024 is an important year for Turkey's space exploration, Kıraç said: “We sent two astronomers into space with 20 experiments. These experiments are analyzed. We will share the details with the public soon.”
We have become a country that makes its own satellites
Recalling that the first local and national communications satellite was launched this year, Kıraç said, “We sent TÜRKSAT 6A in June. It was a completely domestic production, the product of Turkish engineers. It will enter service in the first quarter of 2025.” In addition, we launched our observation satellite İMECE a year ago. “We broadcast it using six-resolution cameras we developed. “Turkey will be able to offer many services with these satellites, from smart cities to environmental monitoring systems,” he said.
Target: Moon in 2026
Türkiye sent astronauts into space, but the lunar mission, which is part of the National Space Program, remains among its most important goals. Kıraç said: “There are two important aspects to this. We build our own spacecraft and we build the hybrid propulsion system. The tests continue. Hopefully, Turkey will join the countries that have reached the moon in 2026.”
First there will be a hard landing on the moon and in the second phase there will be a soft landing. The third phase will take the form of unloading people.
Atomic clock ready for operation after 1 year
Recalling that another important issue is space-time, Yusuf and Kıraç said:
“One of the most strategic studies in space is timing and positioning systems. We are working on our own regional location and planning system. “Hopefully in a year our atomic clock will be ready for use and we will have made it, adding space history.”
We will establish our launch base
In order for Turkey to successfully conduct these studies, it must also have its own launch base. Stating that studies on this issue are still ongoing and the details will be shared with the public in the coming days, Kıraç said, “Our goal as a country is to fly into space independently. For this we are moving towards our own country.” Hopefully we will achieve this in a very short time. “Important steps have been taken,” he said.
Plant cultivation and drug experiments
The main purpose of space flight is to advance scientific development. For this reason, around 2,500 experiments have been carried out in space so far. 20 of them were carried out by Turkish astronauts Alper Gezeravcı and Tuva Cihangir Atasever. Kıraç explained the work on this topic as follows:
“Testing and experimentation continues, from seed production to electronic maps. In addition, when a colony is founded in the future, they try to obtain information about how to produce plants and how to provide food. Eventually, some seeds will be sent into space.” With Ege University we are trying to understand how the seeds will react under more difficult conditions. “We have conducted some experiments on this topic. We hope that the detailed analyzes on this will continue. It seems that studies in space offer some advantages, especially in the field of medicine. For example, in the field of medicine, the reaction of a cancer cell in an environment without gravity will be very important.
77th IAC in Antalya
Kıraç also stated that the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) will be held in Antalya Belek in 2026 and said, “We plan to bring together about 15,000 people here, including scientists, industry representatives, students and entrepreneurs.”
Kıraç concluded his words as follows:
“The space economy has exceeded $600 billion today. While the global economy grows by around 3 percent every year, the space economy is growing three times as fast at 8 to 9 percent. We absolutely have to get our share here. Startup initiatives are very important. Nowadays, in the field of space technologies, many large and small studies have been initiated on services that can be used in space. Two or three startups in Turkey have started sending out their own satellites. The work of private sector entrepreneurs in this area will contribute a lot to themselves and Turkey. As TUA we will continue to provide all kinds of support.”
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