The Close Orbit and Cube Satellite Workshop, organized by Türksat with the participation of Turkey's leading technology institutions, was held at the ATO Congresium Congress and Exhibition Center on 18-19 October 2023, with the intense interest of Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu and executives and experts in the field of satellite, space and defense. .
In addition to Minister Uraloğlu, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Şuayip Birinci, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Ahmet Yozgatlıgil, İntelsat Vice President Murat Yavuz, Türksat A.Ş. Chairman of the Board of Directors Prof. Dr. Kemal Yüksek and Türksat A.Ş. General Manager Hasan Hüseyin Ertok attended.
In his speech at the opening program, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu touched upon the tragic events taking place in Gaza and said, "No conscience accepts the massacre of innocent people there in this way. I hope that with the work that our President is actively involved in, the current situation there will end as soon as possible." "We are undoubtedly taking steps that will bring our country to the level it deserves in every field, from developing our own satellites to sending vehicles to the lunar surface, from training scientists for international space programs to the space industry," he said.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that they were saddened by the bombing of a hospital in Gaza during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said, "No conscience accepts the massacre of innocent people there in this way. I hope that with the work that our President also intensively intervened, as soon as possible." "We hope that the current situation there will end." said.
Stating that they were saddened by the bombing of a hospital in Gaza last night during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Uraloğlu said, "No conscience accepts the massacre of innocent people there in this way. I hope the current situation there will end as soon as possible, with the work that our President has intensively intervened in." "We hope." he said.
Uraloğlu; Stating that the production of the country's first domestic and national communication satellite, Türksat 6A, has started at the Space Systems Integration and Test Center (USET), with the coming together of Türksat, TÜBİTAK Uzay, TUSAŞ, Aselsan and CTECH companies, he said, "Now, with this workshop, we are working on Türksat 6A." "We brought together the leaders of the industry in close orbit and cube satellites. Thus, we took the first and most important steps of cooperation in the production and sending of close orbit satellites into space." he said.
Pointing out that the space adventure in real terms started with the Türksat 1B satellite in 1994, Uraloğlu said, "It has gained a much larger and different dimension with the establishment of the Turkish Space Agency in 2021 and the National Space Program announced by our Presidency in 2022. Undoubtedly, we are more than interested in developing our own satellites." "We are taking steps that will bring our country to the level it deserves in every field, from sending vehicles to the surface, to international space programs, from training scientists to the space industry. In this context, satellite technologies are one of the areas where we are making the fastest progress." made his assessment.
Uraloğlu stated that they showed a strong will to provide the country with superior competencies in the field of satellites and to include it among the policy-making countries in this field in the future, and that they continue to work as a country that can develop, produce and test its own satellites.
"Türksat 6A will be launched in June 2024"
Stating that Turkey significantly increased its satellite communication capability by sending Türksat 5A and Türksat 5B satellites into space in the same year, Uraloğlu said, "Now we are making a technical revolution in the field of space and satellite technologies with our first national communication satellite, Türksat 6A. Türksat 6A will meet many challenges." "It has successfully completed the test and as a result of our evaluations, we will deliver it to the ground in March 2024. After this stage, we aim to launch it into orbit in June, in line with the agreement made with SpaceX." he said.
Pointing out that the country's satellite work is not limited to only Türksat satellites, Uraloğlu said that the Göktürk observation satellites launched in 2012 and 2016, the cube satellites developed by stakeholders in the university and defense industry, and the near orbit constellation projects launched in recent years show how assertive Turkey is in this field. He emphasized that it was an indication that
Uraloğlu pointed out that the interest of young people in satellite technologies is promising and said that the progress made by TEKNOFEST since 2018, when it was first held in 2018, shows where Turkey can reach in satellite and space studies.
Stating that TEKNOFEST generation young people started to conquer the skies with projects bearing their own signature, Uraloğlu said, "One of the teams of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University established a company and designed pocket satellites and achieved great success by placing these satellites in low orbit. Our local company is developing pocket satellites, which is a new technology worldwide." "It draws attention as one of the satellite technologies initiatives originating from Turkey and aiming to be competitive in the global arena by providing data service over the Internet." he said.
Uraloğlu stated that the workshop provided a platform where what could be done to help Turkey achieve its goals in the field of satellite technologies was discussed and where the valuable opinions of all parties from the academy, private sector and public were shared, and said, "I think the outputs of the workshop are very important in shaping the future of our satellite and space industry. " said.
"We do everything to ensure that our country has a greater say in space."
Türksat General Manager Hasan Hüseyin Ertok also said that with the workshop, they will put forward ideas that will shape the future of Turkey, present a new vision for space studies and open the horizons of all sector stakeholders.
Stating that Türksat 1B, the first satellite registered in the name of Turkey, was sent into space from geosynchronous orbit in 1994 to provide television broadcasting and communication services, Ertok stated that 23 satellites registered in the name of Turkey were sent into space in the last 29 years.
Ertok stated that the most advanced point Turkey has reached in the field of satellite technologies development is the Türksat 6A satellite and said, "We are now nearing the end of the project, which was initiated in December 2014 with the participation of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan." he said. Ertok said that satellite operators such as Türksat make investments in satellite and ground systems in order to provide the best service to their customers through different satellite systems from near orbit to geosynchronous orbit and focus on increasing their area of influence through different collaborations. The most important criterion in all these developments in the satellite sector is to reduce costs and ensure sustainability. Stating that it is to stay, Ertok said:
"We are pursuing new visions and new horizons. We know our abilities. We are aware of our potential. We are experiencing technological changes, but we are also pursuing technological transformation. We are aware that we can achieve technological transformation through 'continuous improvement'. We use this workshop as an opportunity presented by continuous improvement efforts." "We are evaluating it. We do everything we do so that our country has a greater say in space. We treat the issue as a national issue. We are ready for all kinds of cooperation in this field, as in all national issues." said.
At the end of the opening program, Türksat A.Ş. Chairman of the Board of Directors Prof. Dr. Kemal Yüksek presented a telescope to Minister Uraloğlu. After the opening session, the protocol delegation visited the stands of the participating companies.
In the two-day workshop, leading organizations of the satellite and defense industry sectors come together. In the sessions to be held within the scope of the workshop, the concept of "New Space", especially cube satellite production and ground segment technologies, will be discussed.