Türkiye to launch new observation satellite on Tuesday

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye's new high-resolution observation satellite IMECE will be launched this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday.

"IMECE, our first high-resolution observation satellite produced with domestic and national means, will be launched into orbit on April 11.

"We will continue to exist in the global space race thanks to our trained human resources, the opportunities we provide and the technologies we have developed," Erdogan said on Twitter.

IMECE is a remote sensing satellite produced with local resources of up to 60% by the Space Technologies Research Institute of Türkiye's Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK).

With the inauguration of IMECE, Türkiye will, for the first time, provide space history to an electro-optical satellite camera with sub-meter resolution, according to the Industry and Technology Ministry.

"IMECE, which will meet the need for high resolution satellite imagery of our country, will operate in orbit simultaneously with sun at an altitude of 680 kilometers (422.5 miles)," it said in a statement.