IMECE, the first domestic and national high-resolution imaging satellite of Turkey designed and developed by TUBITAK SPACE, was launched into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the USA.
IMECE, Turkey's first domestic and national observation satellite, was successfully launched into space from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, at 09.48 Turkish time.
While IMECE Project Manager E. S. Aras and his team coordinated the satellite launch process at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the program was simultaneously carried out at the ground tracking station of TUBITAK Space Technologies Research Institute in Turkey.
After the officials' speeches, the countdown was held. The domestic and national observation satellite IMECE, developed by TUBITAK SPACE, was sent to space at 09.48 Turkish time with the Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Space X company.
ERDOGAN: WE ARE WITNESSING A HISTORIC MOMENT
President ERDOGAN also sent a video message to the ceremony.
With the launch of IMECE, Turkey will have provided space history with an electro-optical satellite camera with a resolution below meters for the first time, developed with domestic and national facilities. IMECE, which will meet Turkey's high-resolution satellite image needs, will serve in a simultaneous orbit to the sun at an altitude of 680 kilometres. The satellite, which can take images from all over the world without geographical restrictions, will provide services to Turkey in many areas, such as target detection and diagnostics, natural disasters, mapping, and agricultural applications.
THE DESIGN MISSION LIFE WAS PLANNED AS 5 YEARS
The design mission life of the satellite, which can be used for civilian and security purposes, has been planned as 5 years. Within the project's scope, a space-compatible electro-optical camera was designed, developed and produced for the first time in Turkey.
Thus, Turkey has become a country able to design and produce all the subsystems of the Earth observation satellite and the ground station from scratch. The dimensions of IMECE, which weigh about 700 kilograms, measure 2 meters by 3.1 meters. IMECE can capture an area of 1000 kilometres long and 16.73 kilometres wide at one time while uploading the images it captures to the ground station with a gross data rate of 320 megabytes/second.
