Turkish Space Systems, Integration and Test Centre ( tr, Uzay Sistemleri, Entegrasyon ve Test Merkezi) (USET) is a

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to spaceflight, fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth ...

production and testing facility owned by the

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and operated by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). It is located in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

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. The facility's official inauguration took place on May 21, 2015 in presence of

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. Considered as a critical infrastructure, the centre was established within the framework of the Göktürk-1 project, which started in 2009, for the indigenous realization of satellite assembly, as well as for

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

and

acceptance testing In engineering and its various subdisciplines, acceptance testing is a test conducted to determine if the requirements of a specification or contract are met. It may involve chemical tests, physical tests, or performance tests. In systems e ...

from design to launch phase. It was the product of an agreement between the Turkish Ministry of National Defence and the multinational space services 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 ...

in 2010. Situated within TAI's grounds in the

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

district of

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, the budgeted cost of the facility is US$100 million. USET is a technology centre, at which all satellites up to mass can be assembled and tested in simulated space environmental conditions related to the orbit. Two satellites can be produced and tested at the simultaneously. The centre serves military and civilian institutions. Development of the Türksat series

communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...

s, starting with Türksat 5A, and Göktürk series

earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitorin ...

s, will be carried out by Turkish engineers at this site. At the end of November 2014, it was announced that the construction of the facility was completed, and the centre was put into operation. The centre's Class 100,000 clean rooms cover an area of around . It is capable of the assembly, integration and testing of several satellites of type

Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

(LEO) and

Geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbit ...

(GEO) with a mass up to five tonnes simultaneously. It has a direct connection to the airbase so that a transport by land becomes needless, offering advantages of security, economy and risk management. The centre has the following capabilities: * thermal vacuum tests, * EMI/ EMC tests, * compact antenna measurement range (CATR) tests, * solar array deployment tests, *

vibration Vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. The word comes from Latin ''vibrationem'' ("shaking, brandishing"). The oscillations may be periodic, such as the motion of a pendulum—or random, suc ...

tests, *

mass properties Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

measurement, * acoustic tests, and * MLI preparation. The advanced integration and environmental tests of Göktürk-1 is the first project to be carried out in the centre. After completion, the satellite will be sent to the launch site by TUSAŞ.

References

{{authority control Space program of Turkey Ministry of National Defense (Turkey) Kahramankazan Space technology research institutes Buildings and structures completed in 2014 2014 establishments in Turkey Buildings and structures in Ankara Province