Turkey will launch a new satellite in December to support its armed forces’ fight against terrorism, Turkish daily Milliyet reported.
The launch date for the satellite which is named Göktürk 1 is scheduled for 5th December in French Guiana in South America.
Göktürk 1 will also be used for civil applications such as monitoring forested areas, illegal constructions, harvests and assessing damage caused by natural disasters.
However, the satellite’s primary function will be to aid the Turkish military. The satellite is expected to be used mainly in Turkey’s eastern and south-eastern regions, as well as Iraq and Syria. It is also likely to be used in military operations conducted in Syria
The satellite which cost 261.5 million euros, has been tested in Turkey and is expected to last for seven years.
It will be able to relay high resolution images at less than 1 metre. The current satellite in use, Göktürk 2, gets high resolution images from 2.5 metres.
Hurriyet
