Türkiye’s observation satellite to be launched on April 11

ISTANBUL

Türkiye’s first domestically produced observation satellite İMECE will be launched into space on April 11, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced.

“We will continue to exist in the global space race thanks to our trained human resources, the opportunities we provide and the technologies we have developed,” the president said on his Twitter account.

“İMECE, our first high-resolution observation satellite produced with domestic and national means, will be launched into orbit on April 11.”

The satellite was designed and developed by Space Technologies Research Institute of Türkiye’s Scientific and Technological Research Council and was produced in Türkiye to provide high resolution imagery.

With the inauguration of İMECE, Türkiye will, for the first time, provide space history to an electro-optical satellite camera with sub-meter resolution, according to the Industry and Technology Ministry.

“İMECE, which will meet the need for high resolution satellite imagery of our country, will operate in orbit simultaneously with the sun at an altitude of 680 kilometers [422.5 miles],” it said in a statement.

The project started in January 2017. In June 2020, the assembly integration activities of the spacecraft’s thermal structural efficiency module was completed, and tests for the vibration on the spacecraft started. The assembly activities of the flight module followed those tests.

The satellite was sent from Istanbul’s Esenboğa Airport to Vandenberg space force base in California, where the launch will be carried out by U.S. aerospace company SpaceX.

It made a safe journey thanks to the cabin, which is protective against all kinds of risks such as humidity, vibration and harmful rays and has a clean room feature that is produced locally.

İMECE will be included in the inventory of the Air Force Command after the tests in space are completed.

Erdoğan will attend the ceremony with a video message, while Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank will be at the ground station. The launch, which will commence with the countdown, is expected to take place at around 9:50 a.m.