SpaceX launches Turkey's first domestically-built communications satellite

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Monday launched Turkey's first domestically-built communications satellite, a powerful relay station designed to carry secure military traffic within Turkish borders while providing expanded commercial services across India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

"We have just launched our domestic communication satellite Türksat 6A into space," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğa said on social media. "We have witnessed another source of pride for our country and our nation. More than 81 percent of the subsystems, satellite ground stations and software in the 6A project, which is of great importance for the future of our country in space, have been produced by Turkey with national resources."  

Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkish minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, said Turkey joins an exclusive club of only 11 nations capable of building high-tech communications satellites. In a pre-launch post on social media, he wrote in Turkish, "Türksat 6A will be the symbol of our independence in space and our unity on Earth and in the sky."