Turkey will organize its own space agency, the Turkish Space Agency, within the year not only to manage its growing space industry but to free itself from an overdependence on foreign technology.

The bill creating the Turkish Space Agency has been finalized and is expected to be quickly approved by the Turkish Parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, after a debate and a vote to be led by the ruling Justice and Development Party.

Like Us on Facebook

The bill will also authorize the Turkish Space Agency to form companies at home or abroad; buy shares in existing companies or acquire companies.

The creation of the Turkish Space Agency is part of an effort by the dictatorial government of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to nationalize Turkey's satellite industry. Turkey has spent over $1 billion on its space program, with the Turkish Armed Forces accounting for a fair share of this investment.

An important step in developing a nationalized space industry was the opening in 2015 of the Space Systems Integration and Test Center operated by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS), which is owned by the Ministry of National Defense.

Up to two satellites, each with a mass of five tons can be assembled, integrated and tested at one time at the $122 million center.

Turkey's newest satellite, Göktürk-1, is a military spy satellite orbited in December 2016 and described as "20 percent Turkish." The military said its Göktürk-1 will help the country in its anti-terror efforts, mostly against Kurdish militants fighting to secure the independence of their homeland from Turkey. 

Göktürk-1 is a high-resolution optical Earth observation satellite for military and civilian use.  It was designed and developed for the Ministry of National Defense by the Italian space service company Telespazio with technological input from TUSAS.

Its camera can take clear photos of a surface object only 50 centimeters in size. It also carries an onboard X-band digital imaging system to handle data compression, storage, and downloading. 

One of the key projects of the Turkish Space Agency will be ensure Turkey operates a fleet of 10 satellites by 2023.

The Turkish Space Agency will determine basic policies and strategies in space and aviation technologies. It will also be expected to help develop a competitive local space industry "not dependent on foreign (technology)."

It other aims are to coordinate work for space platforms, launching facilities and systems, and helping develop, integrate, launch, monitor and operate aerospace systems.

TagsTurkey, Turkish Space Agency, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Aerospace Industries, Göktürk-1