Türkiye's first astronaut Alper Gezeravcı emphasized Türkiye's growing space program after successfully completing a journey on Saturday.

"Our space journey was not just a one-time mission. It was the starting point of a story. We will continue to exist with the will of our state on our space journey," Gezeravcı said in his interview program at the 3rd Aksaray Science Festival, stressing the strong will of the Republic of Türkiye and progress that will inspire young people in an area that they had not previously considered.

Stating that this project is just the beginning of the path that young people will undertake in the future, Gezeravcı said: "Our journey was not a story of arriving somewhere, it was just the beginning. We are not a country far from the space sector. The satellites we build in the space field have been flying in different orbits around the world for years and continue to meet the needs of our country. The only thing we were missing was the manned space mission field. Following the step we took in January, we took the second step toward this with a suborbital research flight. I insist on saying that our space travel was not just a one-time enthusiasm or a mission, it was the starting point of a story. In our space journey, we will continue to exist with the will of our state."

Gezeravcı stated that Türkiye will realize many projects in a planned manner in the coming period: "Currently within the scope of the Lunar Research Project between the years 2026 and 2028, plans are being made to deliver a rocket that we have built to the moon, with our own engine landing hard first, and sending a research module on it on the second mission. We are not far from these projects."

The program ended with a gift given to Gezeravcı after the question and answer session.