SpaceX launches Turksat 6A on July 8. Photo: SpaceX

SpaceX launched Turksat 6A on July 8, Turkey’s first communications satellite built by the country. The telecommunications satellite will expand national satellite operator Turksat’s area of coverage with four new countries. 

Turksat operates a number of other satellites, but this is the country’s first indigenously developed satellite. According to Turksat, 90 percent of the satellite was produced within Turkey. 

Turksat 6A is equipped with Ku-band and X-band communication payloads developed by Turkish defense company Aselsan. The satellite will provide communication services to Turkey, Europe, and South Asia. It will add four new countries to Turksat’s coverage area — India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 

Turksat had the primary role, and The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey, Aselsan, and CTech had a role as well. 

“Communication is our most valuable asset, especially military communication is even more valuabl,” Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said before the launch. “We are currently providing this, but in order to be safe and protect our space homeland, we will use the satellite that we produced and [built] software for.”