Ten years ago Turkey pledged to invest more in space technology as a means to improve the nation's intelligence-gathering, military communications and early-warning capabilities. A decade on, Turkey is investing heavily in a burgeoning space program that boasts several telecommunications spacecraft and two Earth-observation satellites, with plans to build more. In the coming years, Ankara expects to establish a national space agency and military space command to consolidate management of existing and planned assets, which in 2033 could include a space-launch capability and more than 20 operational satellites. In January the government approved negotiations with Turkish weapons builder Roketsan Inc. to manage the early concept design phase for the national satellite launch system, which would be capable of delivering civil and military spacecraft to orbit, according to Turkish government officials.
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