In November 2017, a contract was signed between Türksat AŞ and AIRBUS D&S (Defence and Space) for the production of Türksat 5A.
Türksat 5A, produced at AIRBUS’ facilities in Toulouse, France, was sent to SPACE X’s launch center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The satellite was successfully launched into space with the Falcon 9 rocket on January 8, 2021. Türksat 5A, which was placed in orbit and the tests were successfully completed, started to serve on 28 June 2021 with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Serving a wide geography
With the commissioning of Türksat 5A, the number of communication satellites active in space has increased to 4, and the number of orbits in which Türksat operates with its own satellites has increased to 3 for the first time. The satellite’s services and frequency and orbital rights have been secured for 35 years.
The satellite offers TV broadcasting and data communication services in a wide geography covering Turkey, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Central West Africa, South Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea.
Making Turkey one of the leading countries using the new Ku-Band, Türksat 5A provides much higher quality TV broadcasting and communication services with 12 kilowatts of power.
In addition, the satellite, which strengthens the technology that connects the television and internet services of television channels, called HBB TV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband), reinforced this power of Türksat, the first satellite operator in the world to provide 8K television broadcasting infrastructure.
Experiences gained constitute an important resource for Türksat 6A.
After Türksat 5A, Türksat 5B satellite was put into service on 14 June 2022. While this satellite provides a high capacity increase in communication and internet, the experience gained in its production constitutes an important resource for the development of the domestic and national satellite Türksat 6A. Türksat 6A, whose sub-systems, satellite ground station and software have been developed with national resources, and whose testing processes are continuing, is aimed to be launched into space next year.
