O Peru is organizing a summit this week with space agencies from across Central Eurasia. This is the third meeting of this type that aims to strengthen regional cooperation in space programs and initiatives. The meeting highlights Turkey’s rapidly accelerating space ambitions as it aims to establish itself as a major player in the global space industry.
Turkey’s decision to be active in the space industry dates back to 1993, when Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council identified it as a key area of development. However, it was not until 2018 that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan created the Turkish Space Agency to oversee and expand the country’s space program.
In this short period of time, Turkey has managed to successfully launch several satellites, such as the RASAT and Göktürk Earth observation satellites. Perhaps its greatest achievement to date was sending its first astronaut, Alper Gezeravci, on a mission to the International Space Station last year.
The moon
Now Turkey has much loftier goals, aiming to become one of the few nations with manned missions in space. At the summit, Turkish officials revealed plans for an ambitious lunar program aimed at culminating in a manned mission to the Moon by 2026, using indigenous rocket systems. However, the 2026 target seems extremely ambitious, if not impossible, if we consider that in 2026 NASA is planning its own manned mission to the Moon after many years of preparation and with the know-how and resources at the agency’s disposal. American space.
The summit also revealed Turkey’s desire to cooperate more deeply with neighboring countries on space projects of mutual interest. An important initiative agreed was the joint development of a mini-satellite ‘cubesat’ involving several states. There were also discussions about sharing scientific data, exploration resources and using space-based Earth observation to monitor and combat climate change across the region.
Naftemporiki.gr