Türksat 6A, Türkiye's first domestically produced communication satellite, is set to be put into service on Monday, a top official announced on Sunday.
The satellite will enter service with a ceremony to be held with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said in a written statement shared by the ministry. The ceremony is expected to take place at 1 p.m. local time (11 a.m. GMT).
"With the commissioning of Türksat 6A, the coverage area of our satellites will increase from 3.5 billion people to 5 billion people, and our satellite will provide service for at least 15 years," Uraloğlu said.
In his written statement, Uraloğlu recalled that Türkiye's satellite adventure began with Türksat 1B, which entered orbit in 1994, and that this satellite was followed by Türksat 1C in 1996 and Türksat 2A in 2001.
He also noted that Türksat engineers who worked on 3A, 4A and 4B satellites were involved in the construction of Türksat 6A, which he said is the result of approximately 20 years of work.
"With the contribution of Türksat engineers who received training in the field of space technologies within the scope of Türksat's Technology Transfer Program, 6A was produced with the highest local content rate. With this success, our country has made its mark among the 11 countries that can produce communication satellites," the minister said.
The satellite was launched into space in July last year and it reached its designated orbit in December.
