Turkey will start space trials of its liquid-propellant rocket engines, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday.
ROKETSAN’S NEW PRODUCTION FACILITY
“I would like to announce the start of the first space trials of domestically developed liquid-propellant rocket engine technology,” Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of Turkey’s leading defense company Roketsan’s production facility and research center in the capital Ankara.
Early this year, Erdoğan promised the launch of a national space program in 2020 joining the ranks of China, the US, India and Russia.
Turkey’s first indigenously produced maritime missile Atmaca has passed its latest long-distance test in July. According to Roketsan, Atmaca is a high-precision, long-range, surface-to-surface, precision strike anti-ship missile which can be integrated with patrol boats, frigates, and corvettes.
It boasts a range of over 200 km (124 mi), posing a threat to targets far outside visual range. It also provides target update, re-attack, and mission abort capability via modern data link.