Turkey’s telecommunication satellite launched into space nearly half a year ago will be put into service next week, the country’s transport and infrastructure minister said Thursday.
Türksat 5B was launched in December on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The satellite was launched to geostationary transfer orbit, where it will use onboard electric thrusters to reach 42 degrees East to provide high throughout Ka and Ku-band services.
Turkey signed an agreement with the global aerospace company Airbus in 2017 for the production of the Türksat 5B and 5A orbiters, the latter of which was sent into space in January last year.
The satellite reached its destination on May 17 and has undergone successful performance and orbit tests, said Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu.
Türksat 5B will come online on June 14 with a ceremony to be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Karaismailoğlu told a meeting in the capital Ankara.
The satellite will cover a wide area that includes the whole Middle East, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, parts of Africa, as well as neighboring countries, Karaismailoğlu noted.
The satellite will have a useful payload capacity that will exceed all satellites to date and will boost Turkey's communication capacity by15-fold, officials have said.
Türksat 5B will increase the number of active communication satellites in Turkey to five and the total number of satellites to eight.
The production of the domestic Türksat 6A satellite is also ongoing in Ankara, where assembly, integration and tests are being carried out. The satellite is planned to be sent into space in 2023.
The fifth-generation Türksat 5A satellite was also launched via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Officials say the communication satellite that into service in June last year will help secure Turkey's orbital rights and will serve for 35 years.
Resting in an unused Turkish orbital slot at 31 degrees East, Türksat 5A is offering broadcasting services to wide geography that covers Europe, the Middle East and large regions of Africa as well as the Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea region.