The
Göktürk
-1
satellite
launched
successfully
5
December
2016
-
The
Turkish
Earth
observation
satellite
Göktürk-1
was
successfully
launched
at
10:51
(local
time),
at
14:51
CET.
The
launch
was
carried
out
by
Arianespace
from
the
European
spaceport
in
Kourou,
in
French
Guiana,
with
the
European
VEGA
launcher.
After
the
separation
of
the
satellite
from
the
rocket
57
minutes
after
launch,
the
early
orbit
and
satellite
testing
phase
began,
managed
by
the
Fucino
Space
Centre
of
Telespazio,
a
joint
venture
between
Leonardo
(67%)
and
Thales
(33%).
The
first
telemetry
signal
was
acquired
by
the
Fucino
68
minutes
after
launch.
The
Göktürk-1
programme
was
built
by
Telespazio
as
prime
contractor,
and
Thales
Alenia
Space,
a
joint
venture
between
Thales
(67%)
and
Leonardo-Finmeccanica
(33%),
for
the
Undersecretariat
for
the
Turkey
Defence
Industry
(SSM,
Savunma
Sanayii
Müsteşarlığı),
together
with
local
industrial
partners
including
Tai
AS,
Aselsan
AS,
Tubitak
Bilgem,
Roketsan
AS
and
TR
Tecnoloji.
The
system
will
be
operated
by
the
Turkish
Air
Force.
Luigi
Pasquali,
CEO
of
Telespazio,
said:
"Telespazio
is
proud
to
have
made
possible
the
success
of
this
mission.
Göktürk-1
is
the
result
of
collaboration
between
Telespazio
and
Thales
Alenia
Space
and
is a
satellite
system
that
guarantees
the
End
User
remarkable
performance
in
terms
of
quantity
and
quality
of
the
images.
I
would
like
to
take
this
opportunity
to
thank
SSM
and
the
Turkish
Air
Force
for
the
great
spirit
of
cooperation
they
have
shown
in
this
project,
as
well
as
the
industrial
team
that
contributed
to
its
implementation.”
“The
success
of
this
launch
-
stated
Donato
Amoroso
Deputy
CEO
Thales
Alenia
Space,
SEVP
Observation,
Exploration
and
Navigation
-
represents
the
achievement
by
our
company
of a
great
goal
that
consolidates
over
30
years'
experience
that
Thales
Alenia
Space
has
gained
in
the
construction
of
satellite-based
optical
and
radar
instruments
for
Earth
observation.
Last
but
not
least,
our
valued
co-operation
with
Turkey
and
its
aerospace
industries,
has
given
life
to a
modern,
efficient
Integration
Centre
in
Ankara”.
Telespazio
created
the
ground
segment,
including
the
capabilities
of
mission
control,
in-orbit
satellite
management,
and
the
acquisition
and
data
processing
systems.
The
company
is
also
responsible
for
the
launch,
entry
into
orbit
and
test
services.
Thales
Alenia
Space
created
the
observation
satellite
equipped
with
a
high-resolution
optical
sensor
and
created
an
integration
and
satellite
testing
centre
at
Ankara,
inaugurated
in
2015,
as
an
infrastructure
that
can
integrate
various
satellites
simultaneously.
The
European
VEGA
launcher,
designed,
developed
and
built
in
Italy
by
AVIO
through
its
subsidiary
ELV
(30%
held
by
the
ISA),
was
selected
for
the
launch
of
Göktürk-1.
The
Göktürk-1
satellite
has
a
mass
of
approximately
1000
kg
and
a
service
life
of
seven
years.
Its
observation
payload
includes
a
high-resolution
optical
instrument
and
an
on-board
digital
imaging
storage
system
to
handle
data
compression,
archiving
and
downloading.
The
satellite
will
be
positioned
in a
Sun-synchronous
orbit,
at
an
altitude
of
approximately
700
km.
