First space training center to open in northwestern Turkey

BURSA

AA Photo

Turkey is set to open a new training center for space enthusiasts and young people who consider going forward with such a career path.

The Gökmen Space and Aviation Training Center (GUHEM), Turkey’s first space training base project will open its doors in the northwestern city of Bursa on April 23. April 23 is a special day for the country as it is celebrated as the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, bestowed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.

In the center’s first floor, some 154 interactive mechanisms, an innovation center, a modern flight simulator have been established, along with many other different applications for aeronautics and space training.

The second floor, dubbed as the “Space Floor,” will provide information on atmospheric phenomena, the solar system, planets, and galaxies.

The space training center is a fruit of collaboration between many institutes, including the Industry and Technology Ministry and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).

The project had a budget of 200 million Turkish Liras. The center is built on a 13,500-square-meter area. With its attention-grabbing architecture, the center won the “European Property Awards 2019” on the “Public Service Architecture” category.

İbrahim Burkay, the head of the Bursa Chamber of Commerce, told state-run Anadolu Agency that Turkey wants to become one of the top 10 economies in the world and those are leading in space and aviation technologies.

He also referred to another Turkish project regarding putting an indigenous satellite into orbit and said that the country needs “indigenous astronauts” as well.

“We want this astronaut to emerge from Bursa,” he added.

Underlining the significance of such training centers across the globe, Burkay said that once opened, GUHEM will rank first in this area in Europe and will be among the top five in the world.

He also added that GUHEM will be one of the most important centers for the Turkish Space Agency.