Satellites

South Korea was set to launch its first commercial-grade satellite Wednesday as rival North Korea pushed plans forward to place its first military spy satellite into orbit.

"The US assesses that China's effort to develop capabilities to 'deny, exploit or hijack' enemy satellites is a key part of its goal to control information, which Beijing considers a core 'war-fighting domain,'" commented the "Financial Times".

Türkiye aims to send another satellite, Türksat 6A, to space in the second quarter of 2023, Transport Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu has said.

Türkiye was one of the countries to send two new-generation satellites to orbit within a year, he said, referring to the launches of Türksat 5A at the start of 2021, and Türksat 5B toward the end of 2021.

Turkey's new 5B communication satellite has been put into service as part of the government's National Space Program, which envisages having a total of 10 satellites in space by 2023, the centennial of the Republic of Turkey.

Türksat 5B telecommunication satellite will be put in service next week on June 14, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu has announced.

"After a five-month journey, Türksat 5B reached orbit on May 17. Performance and orbit tests were conducted successfully. Now it is time to put the satellite in service," Karaismailoğlu said.

Turkey will launch its Turksat 5B communications satellite into orbit next month, a senior official said on Nov. 24.

"One of the prominent features of Turksat 5B, which will be launched into an orbital slot at 42 degrees East, is to increase Turkey's Ka-band data communication capacity 15-fold," Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said in a statement.

Turkey's first indigenous communications satellite Turksat 6A, which is planned to be completed in 2022, will be launched by the U.S.-based space firm SpaceX.

U.K.-based satellite communication company Inmarsat and Turkish satellite operator TurkSat have signed a first partnership agreement for the Turksat 5B communications satellite, which is set to go skyward at the end of the year.

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The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has broadcast some satellite photos showing smoke rising from Turkey's south and southwest, which have been battling raging wildfires over the past week.

Turkey will be among the 10 countries of the world producing communication satellites when it launches the Türksat 6A satellite into space next year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 28.