Turkey plans to send a rover to the Moon by 2030. This mission should rely on a domestically built rocket engine, the first of which launch should take place in 2023. A first Turkish astronaut should also integrate the International Space Station in a few years.
In 2020, NASA shared its "Artemis Accords" with the goal of ensuring safe and sustainable exploration of our satellite. Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates or United Kingdom, many countries had immediately joined the United States. Ukraine, South Korea, New Zealand and Brazil have also recently signed these agreements.
On the other hand, we know that Russia and China signed an agreement last March to build a research station on the Moon. Again, the two countries have officially invited other nations to join their project. In short, you will have understood it, there will soon be people on the Moon.
More recently, Turkey also expressed its intention to visit our satellite.
This Tuesday, June 16, during the Global Conference on Space Exploration (GLEX) held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Serdar Hüseyin Yildirim, President of the Space Agency Turkey (TUA), indeed discussed the details of the country's space program.
Three important points to remember. On the one hand, Turkey plans to deliver a first surface rover as early as 2028 or 2029 . The robot will be responsible for collecting scientific data.
Then it is expected that the ship loaded with launch rover be built in Turkey , based on a hybrid engine currently under development. A first prototype will be launched towards the Moon at the end of 2023, if all goes as planned.
“We intend to use our own engine to reach the Moon” , Yildirim said. "Before this phase, our spacecraft will instead be delivered to low Earth orbit through international collaboration" .
Finally, Turkey also plans to send a first Turkish astronaut on board the ISS in the years to come to conduct scientific experiments. “We are trying to finalize our negotiations with the parties” , Yildirim said. “In a few months they will be finalized and we will begin the training process” .
Recall that Turkey launched its space agency only in 2018, despite the criticism inherent in the significant expenditure on the project in the context of the economic crisis. On the other hand, proponents of the program see it as an opportunity to retain researchers in the country.
