Prior to the launch of the first Turkish communication satellite Türksat 6A, a few hours remain. The launch will take place on July 8, 2024 at 17.20 local time (USA), at 00.20 on the night of July 8 to 9 in Turkish time.
Work on the satellite began in 2014 under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey and lasted ten years.
According to the Anadolu agency, Turkey brought its first space in space in 1994 – Türksat 1b.
Two years later, in 1996, Türksat 1C was withdrawn, in 2001 – Türksat 2A, in 2008 – Türksat 3a, in 2014, Türksat 4b. In 2021, Turkey launched Türksat 5A, and in 2022 – Türksat 5b.
December 15, 2014, the project of the development of the domestic satellite Türksat 6A was officially launched. And on May 21, 2015, engineers began working in the first center for testing and integration of space systems (USET) under the Turkish company of the aviation and space industry (Tusaş (Tusaş/TAI).
December 31, 2015 began the preliminary phase, and on December 26, 2016 – the phase of critical verification of the systems of the apparatus.
The initial functional tests of the flight model ended in June 2022, and thermal-vacuum tests of the flight model ended in December 2022.
Vibro-acoustic tests of the flight model were carried out in August 2023, and shock tests of the flight model (fitness check) were completed in November 2023.
The final functional tests of the flight model were completed in January 2024, and tests of the CATR FIRSTRAL model were carried out.
In April 2024, experts measured the technical characteristics of the flight model, and last month the process of ground delivery and packaging of the flight model began.
On June fourth, the satellite was transported at the Space X cosmodrome at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The Turkish Space Agency, Türksat Uzay, Türksat Aese, Aselsan, C2Tech and TAI contributed to the creation of the Türksat 6A satellite. Preparation for the launch of the first Turkish communication satellite in space is completely completed.