İMECE, Türkiye's first sub-meter high-resolution observation satellite developed entirely with domestic and national resources, was successfully launched into space at 09:48 (GMT+3) from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.
While İMECE Project Manager Emir Serdar Aras and his associates coordinated the launch of the satellite at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, a simultaneous event took place at the ground station of the Space Technologies Research Institute of the Türkiye's Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK).
Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar and President of TÜBİTAK Prof Hasan Mandal attended the launch of the İMECE satellite, which had been delayed three times due to poor weather conditions.
Following Minister Akar's and President Mandal's speeches, the countdown began, and Space X's Falcon 9 rocket launched the first indigenous observation satellite İMECE, developed by TÜBİTAK UZAY, into space at 09:48 (GMT+3).
The observation satellite AKUP again developed by TÜBİTAK UZAY along with İMECE, the observation satellite KILIÇSAT manufactured in collaboration with ASELSAN and GÜMÜŞ companies, and the IoT and observation satellite CONNECTA T2.1 CubeSats produced by PLAN-S company were launched into space on the same rocket.
Moreover, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a video message to the event.
Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank attended the event via phone call following the launch to express his thanks to all who contributed to making the occasion a success.
It will meet the need for high-resolution satellite imagery
The İMECE satellite, which will minimise Türkiye's reliance on foreign satellite technologies, was transported to Vandenberg Space Force Base in the US on February 21. Utilising domestic and national resources, Nurus Company created for the first time a cabin that served as a clean room for İMECE.
The satellite travelled successfully from Esenboğa Airport to Vandenberg, where it was to be launched, owing to the Turkish-made cabin that served as a clean room and was resistant to all possible risks, including humidity and vibration.
The İMECE satellite, developed within the scope of a project coordinated by the Ministry of National Defence and the Presidency of Defence Industries of the Presidency of Türkiye, and supported by the Presidency of Strategy and Budget Department of the Presidency of Türkiye and the TÜBİTAK 1007 programme, will be added to the Turkish Air Force Command's inventory after orbital tests are completed.
With the launch of İMECE, Türkiye made its space history by launching for the first time an electro-optical satellite camera with a sub-meter resolution that was developed using only domestic and national resources.
İMECE will simultaneously orbit the sun at an altitude of 680 kilometres, meeting Türkiye's need for high-resolution satellite imagery.
The satellite, capable of capturing images from any location in the world without any geographical limitations, will benefit Türkiye in various ways, including target detection and identification, natural disasters, mapping, and agricultural practices.
The satellite’s design mission life is set to be five years
The satellite's design mission life, which can be used for civil and security purposes, is set to be five years. For the first time in Türkiye, a space-compatible electro-optical camera was designed and manufactured as part of the project.
As a result, Türkiye has shifted from providing images from foreign satellites to producing and even exporting its own camera.
Aside from the electro-optical camera, the İMECE Project domestically produced the electric propulsion system, sun detector, star tracks, response wheel, global positioning system receiver, magnetometer, X-band and S-band communication equipment and antennas, power regulation and distribution equipment, flight computer, flight software, ground station antenna and ground station software.
Türkiye has thus evolved into a country capable of designing and manufacturing all subsystems of the earth observation satellite and ground station from the ground up.
İMECE has dimensions of 2 x 3.1 metres and weighs about 700 kilogrammes.
İMECE can capture an area of 1,000 kilometres in length and 16.73 kilometres in width in a single shot and download the captured images to the ground station at a gross data rate of 320 megabytes per second.
