The American space company SpaceX of Elon Musk made a “leg” in its missions in 2021, launching a Turkish telecommunications satellite.
The launch took place from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a reusable Falcon 9 rocket, which eight and a half minutes later landed on one of the company's two platform ships in the Atlantic.
The 3,500-kilogram Turksat 5A satellite, which was launched 33 minutes after launch, was built by the European defense and space company Airbus Defense and Space in England and France, in collaboration with the Turkish company Turksat.
It will provide satellite coverage for television broadcasting and broadband for at least 15 years in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Space X is set to launch a second Turkish satellite, Turksat 5B, later this year. Turksat satellites are part of Turkey's effort to expand its presence in space, something President Erdogan has pledged.
In October 2020, activists began pushing Space X to stop launching the Turksat 5A, protesting outside the company's headquarters in California, condemning Turkey's involvement in the Armenia-Azerbaijan war alongside the latter.
But their effort did not bring results.
