Göktürk-1 (also Göktürk-1A) is a high resolution earth observation satellite (greater than 50 cm) designed and developed for the Turkish Ministry of National Defence by the

Italia Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the Italy (geographical region) ...

n space service company

Telespazio Telespazio Spa is a European spaceflight services company founded in 1961. It is a joint venture owned by Leonardo (67%) and Thales Group (33%) headquartered in Rome. Telespazio provides services that include the design and development of space ...

with technological input from

Turkish Aerospace Industries Turkish Aerospace Inc. ( tr, Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayi A.Ş., TUSAŞ) is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey. Located in Ankara ...

(TUSAŞ) and ASELSAN of Turkey. The agreement to build Göktürk-1 was signed on July 13, 2009 between the Ministry of National Defence and Telespazio, a

Finmeccanica Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the eighth ...

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

company, taking effect on July 19, 2009.

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...

is in charge of supplying the

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus- ...

. Within the framework of the project, a facility for assembly, integration and testing of spacecraft (UMET) up to mass will be established in Turkey, which is considered as a critical infrastructure. The project is valued at more than

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

250m. The satellite with resolution is intended for use of

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

over any location on Earth without geographical restriction. Additionally, it will carry out various civil applications on mapping and planning, landcover survey,

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

, ecosystem monitoring, disaster management,

environmental control Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...

, coastal zone management, and water resources.

Dispute with Israel

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

started a pressure campaign on the French company

, which is one of the shareholders of Telespazio. Israel expressed its fear that the high resolution imagery taken by Göktürk-1 over its territory could eventually fall into the wrong hands. Israel, which supplies some of the critical electro-optical parts of the satellite's high-technology camera system to

, stipulated that Göktürk-1 should be made incapable of taking imagery as long as it is over Israel. Turkey, after having received such information, demanded from the contractor Thales Group that it has to prove the satellite can take imagery from any location desired. The French producer initially rejected this demand, but later decided to accept it, after the Turkish government responded by stopping the payments. Turkish bureaucrats also requested the launch of the satellite to be made by an experienced and well-known space company. Thales Group, on the other hand, originally proposed to commission a launch company without too much experience in order to cut the costs.

Launch

After numerous delays due to political and business disputes, which were finally solved, the satellite was launched from the

Guiana Space Center The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

at 13:51:44 UTC, on 5 December 2016, on flight VV08 of the European Space Agency's

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, a ...

rocket. Four years earlier, Göktürk-2, another Earth observation satellite of the Göktürk series (however with lower resolution compared to Göktürk-1) was successfully placed in orbit on December 18, 2012.

References

External links

GÖKTÜRK-1 on leonardocompany.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gokturk-1 Reconnaissance satellites of Turkey Ministry of National Defense (Turkey) Spacecraft launched in 2016 2016 in Turkey Spacecraft launched by Vega rockets Military equipment introduced in the 2010s

Dispute with Israel

Launch

See also

References

External links