Turkey's GÖKTÜRK-1 Earth observation satellite was successfully launched by Arianespace from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, using the European VEGA launcher.

The satellite was separated from the rocket 57min after launch, the early orbit and satellite testing phase began, managed by the Fucino Space Centre of Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%).

Fucino said that it had received the first telemetry signal from the satellite 68min after its launch.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank SSM and the Turkish Air Force for the great spirit of cooperation they have shown in this project."

The GÖKTÜRK-1 programme was built by prime contractor Telespazio and the Thales Alenia Space joint venture for the Turkish Defence Industry (SSM), along with local industrial partners. The system will be operated by the Turkish Air Force.

Telespazio CEO Luigi Pasquali said: “GÖKTÜRK-1 is the result of collaboration between Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space and is a satellite system that guarantees the end user remarkable performance in terms of quantity and quality of the images.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank SSM and the Turkish Air Force for the great spirit of cooperation they have shown in this project, as well as the industrial team that contributed to its implementation.”

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Telespazio developed the ground segment, which included mission control and in-orbit satellite management capabilities, as well as the acquisition and data processing systems. It was also responsible for the launch, entry into orbit and test services.

On the other hand, Thales Alenia Space was responsible for creating the observation satellite equipped with a high-resolution optical sensor.

It also integrated the GÖKTÜRK-1 with the satellite testing centre at Ankara, which has the ability to simultaneously integrate various satellites.

The 1,000kg satellite has a service life of seven years, and its observation payload includes a high-resolution optical instrument and an onboard digital imaging storage system to handle data compression, archiving and downloading.