Turkish satellite completes 8th year in orbit

By Dilara Zengin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's first national earth observation satellite, named Rasat, completed its 8th year in orbit.

The satellite, with design life of 3 years, scanned 15 million square kilometers and shot more than 2,800 images in 8 years, head of Space Technologies Research Institute of Turkey's Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) told Anadolu Agency.

The 100-kilogram satellite, which was designed by TUBITAK engineers, has revolved around the world for more than 42,000 times, Lokman Kuzu noted.

"Rasat has been serving for 8 years and none of its parts is broken, it is a success," Kuzu said.

The satellite, which usually observes Turkey, provides views of different things such as dams, constructions, fires, forests and volcanos, he highlighted.

"We will start more high-technology projects in coming days, we believe in our engineers and software developers," the head of TUBITAK added.