{"id":15040,"date":"2016-12-06T00:31:06","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T16:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/turkeys-military-gets-a-new-eye-in-the-sky-with-successful-vega-launch\/"},"modified":"2016-12-06T00:31:06","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T16:31:06","slug":"turkeys-military-gets-a-new-eye-in-the-sky-with-successful-vega-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/turkeys-military-gets-a-new-eye-in-the-sky-with-successful-vega-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey\u2019s military gets a new eye in the sky with successful Vega launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_20425\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20425\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20425\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VV08-liftoff-2.jpg\" alt=\"The Vega rocket soars into a mostly clear sky above the Guiana Space Center on Monday. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon\" width=\"675\" height=\"486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VV08-liftoff-2.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VV08-liftoff-2-300x216.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Vega rocket soars into a mostly clear sky above the Guiana Space Center on Monday. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A European-built, Turkish-owned spy satellite rocketed into orbit Monday aboard a Vega booster launched from French Guiana, part of a $300 million project to feed improved surveillance imagery to the Turkish military and advance the country\u2019s aerospace manufacturing base.<\/p>\n<p>Leaving political and international export concerns in its wake, the Gokturk 1 satellite will spend at least seven years taking high-resolution pictures for Turkish military and security agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey\u2019s most advanced surveillance craft lifted off at 1351:44 GMT (8:51:44 a.m. EST; 10:51:44 a.m. French Guiana time) Monday on top of a Vega rocket, a four-stage booster primarily produced in Italy tailored for small satellite launches.<\/p>\n<p>The 98-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega rocket rumbled off its tropical launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, on nearly 700,000 pounds of thrust from its P80 solid-fueled first stage motor, exceeding the speed of sound within 30 seconds as it set off on a northerly trajectory bound for an orbit circling Earth\u2019s poles.<\/p>\n<p>Three European-made solid rocket motors fired in succession in the first seven minutes of the Vega rocket\u2019s mission, then a liquid-fueled Ukrainian fourth stage engine ignited two times to maneuver Gokturk 1 into a target orbit nearly 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The upper stage released the 2,337-pound (1,060-kilogram) Earth observing satellite around 57 minutes after liftoff, and officials soon declared the launch a success.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Aa7AFPZbRZ4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cArianespace is delighted to announce that according to our internal launch vehicle information, the satellite has been separated as planned in its targeted sun-synchronous orbit,\u201d said Stephane Israel, Arianespace\u2019s chairman and chief executive. \u201cFor the second time in less than three months, Vega performed flawlessly. Well done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ground controllers at an Italian ground facility acquired the first signals from Gokturk 1 a few minutes later, according to Telespazio, the mission\u2019s Rome-based prime contractor for the Turkish Defense Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>Engineers will complete testing of the new satellite in the next few months, then hand over control of the spacecraft to the Turkish government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday is an important and proud day for the Turkish Air Force and for Turkey,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Dulger, head of the project management department in the Turkish Air Force, which will be the primary user of the satellite\u2019s imagery. \u201cGokturk 1 has just been launched into orbit successfully, and we have acquired the first signals from the satellite.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thales Alenia Space, a segment of Telespazio minority owner Thales Group, manufactured the Gokturk 1 satellite at its plant in Cannes, France.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are expecting the system to be delivered to us \u2014 the end user, the Turkish Air Force \u2014 as planned,\u201d Dulger said in remarks after the launch. \u201cGokturk 1 is the second Earth observation satellite after Gokturk 2 for the Turkish Air Force, but with a higher-resolution camera and better capabilities. It will be used for both military and civilian purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20426\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20426\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VV08-liftoff-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Vega rocket lifted off at 10:51 a.m. French Guiana time. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon\" width=\"675\" height=\"955\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VV08-liftoff-1.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/VV08-liftoff-1-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Vega rocket lifted off at 10:51 a.m. French Guiana time. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Turkish authorities have not revealed the craft\u2019s exact imaging capabilities, other than disclosing it will collect \u201csub-meter\u201d imagery, meaning its Thales-supplied optical camera will resolve objects on the ground smaller than about 3 feet across.<\/p>\n<p>Gokturk 1 will be able to image the entire planet every three days.<\/p>\n<p>The medium-resolution Gokturk 2 satellite, built domestically in Turkey, launched aboard a Chinese Long March 2D rocket in December 2012. Turkey is designing an all-weather, day-and-night radar imaging satellite named Gokturk 3 planned for launch as soon as 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Besides its role in building the Gokturk 1 satellite, Thales Alenia Space developed a spacecraft integration and test center in Ankara as part of a technology transfer program. Gokturk 1 shipped from Cannes to Ankara last year for environmental testing at the new facility, which is equipped with a mechanical shaker for vibration testing, acoustic and thermal vacuum chambers, and a compact antenna test range.<\/p>\n<p>The Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, known by the acronym SSM, selected Telespazio as the Gokturk 1 project\u2019s prime contractor in 2009. Telespazio, which developed Gokturk 1\u2019s ground systems, awarded Arianespace a contract in 2013 for the satellite\u2019s launch on a Vega rocket.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20427\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20427\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/GOKTURK-HD-V01-artist-view.jpg\" alt=\"Artist's concept of the Gokturk 1 satellite. Credit: Thales Alenia Space\" width=\"675\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/GOKTURK-HD-V01-artist-view.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/GOKTURK-HD-V01-artist-view-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/GOKTURK-HD-V01-artist-view-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20427\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of the Gokturk 1 satellite. Credit: Thales Alenia Space<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gokturk 1\u2019s launch came about a year behind schedule after trouble with export licenses kept the satellite in storage at its French factory until mid-2015, delaying its shipment to Turkey to begin environmental testing.<\/p>\n<p>The Vega rocket, produced by an industrial consortium led by Avio, has now logged eight successful launches in eight flights since its debut in February 2012. Arianespace, which is responsible for marketing and Vega launch operations, said it has contracts for at least eight more Vega missions.<\/p>\n<p>The next Vega flight is scheduled for March 6 with the Sentinel 2B land imaging satellite for Europe\u2019s Copernicus environmental monitoring network.<\/p>\n<p>But Arianespace has three launches on its manifest before then, beginning with the Dec. 20 liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket with Brazilian and Japanese television broadcast satellites.<\/p>\n<p>A Soyuz rocket launch Jan. 27 will loft Hispasat AG1, a German-built, Spanish-owned communications craft to provide services over Spain, Portugal and the Americas. That mission will be the first geostationary satellite launch by a Russian Soyuz rocket from French Guiana.<\/p>\n<p>Another Ariane 5 launch is set for mid-February with the Intelsat 32e\/Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S communications satellites to cover Brazil and Indonesia.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Vega rocket soars into a mostly clear sky above the Guiana Space Center on Monday. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon A European-built, Turkish-owned spy satellite rocketed into orbit Monday aboard a Vega booster launched from French Guiana, part of a $300 million project to feed improved surveillance imagery [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[498,1244,159,3513,1773,3514,874,3515],"class_list":["post-15040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-arianespace","tag-avio","tag-earth-observation","tag-gokturk-1","tag-guiana-space-center","tag-telespazio","tag-thales-alenia-space","tag-turkey"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}