Turkey’s minister of transport and infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu has announced that the communications satellite Turksat 5A has entered orbit at 31 degrees East.
He added that testing will continue for a month, after which the satellite will become operational, covering Turkey and Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Mid-Western and South Africa as well as the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Seas.
Karaismailoglu also said that 5A will make Turkey one of the leading countries using the new Ku-Band in TV broadcasting and data communication services. The satellite will be able to offer such services for over 30 years thanks to an electric propulsion system.
In addition, Karaismailoglu said that Turkey plans to launch Turksat 5B, which is nearing the end of production, in the fourth quarter this year. Located at 42 degrees East, it will increase the country’s Ka-band data communication capacity by 15 times.
Meanwhile, Turksat 6A will be launched in 2022.
Turksat 5A was launched by SpaceX in January.
