Turksat

SpaceX launches Turkey’s Turksat 5B communications satellite
SpaceX successfully launched the Turksat 5B Turkish communications satellite Dec. 18, less than 16 hours after launching a batch of Starlink broadband spacecraft.

SpaceX to launch Turksat 6A
Turksat will launch its first domestically built communications satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9, the Turkish government announced Sept. 17.

SpaceX launches Turksat 5A
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a Turkish communications satellite Jan. 7 to start what may be the busiest year yet for the launch company.

UK Export Finance loans $325 million for Turksat satellites Airbus is building
U.K. Export Finance, an agency with a long-standing interest in supporting satellite projects but with little to show for it until now, has signed a $325 million loan with Turkey to support two satellites Airbus is building under a 2017 contract.

FIRST UP Satcom | Turksat tests 8K broadcast • SpaceX changes Starlink leadership • Hughes starts service in Peru
Turksat has tested satellite broadcasts in 8K Ultra-HD, demonstrating the ability to transmit content with 16 times the resolution of HD.

Turkish court gives 13 life sentences to 2016 coup participants that attacked Turksat
Thirteen out of seventeen people accused by Turkey’s government of attempting to cut off Turksat’s satellite communications during last year’s coup attempt have received “aggravated life sentences” for their actions, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said Oct. 23.

Turkey picks Airbus for Turksat 5A and 5B
Turkish telecommunications satellite operator Turksat has selected Airbus Defence and Space for the construction of two long-awaited geostationary satellites.

Turkey’s parliament deliberates on space agency law
The Turkish parliament is deliberating on a draft bill to create a space agency to boost the country’s space industry and facilitate Ankara’s expansion within the global space industry.

EchoStar: Hughes S. American broadband starts this summer, European mobile service faces delay
EchoStar Corp.’s Hughes division on May 10 said a recent consumer satellite broadband contract with the Turkish government and a combined Eutelsat/Facebook deal in Africa are just the start of the company’s ambition of replicating its U.S. success elsewhere.

Construction of Turksat’s 1st Domestic Satellite Now Underway
Satellite fleet operator Turksat on April 19 said construction of its first domestically produced satellite, Turksat 6A, has formally begun four months after the project was approved and that the satellite would not be in orbit before 2020.