Turkey to launch Turksat 5B communications satellite in Dec

By Aysu Bicer

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

"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 Karaismailoglu said in a statement.

Turkey signed a contract for Turksat 5B satellite with Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus D&S) in order to ensure the redundancy of the satellite, he said.

"The design and the production stages of the satellite were successfully completed and it is aimed to increase the export revenues of Turksat and our country with effective communication solutions to be provided via our satellite," he said.

Private firm SpaceX will deliver Turksat 5B into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Base in the US state of Florida.

Previously, the Turksat 5A satellite had been launched by SpaceX in January 2021.