Japanese company delivers new satellite to Turkey

TOKYO - Anadolu Agency

A scale model of a "Turksat-4A" communication satellite produced by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric and delivered to Turkish space company Truksat is displayed after a handover ceremony attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Mitsubishi's Kamakura plant in Kamakura, suburban Tokyo on January 8, 2014. AFP Photo

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday attended a delivery ceremony of the TÜRKSAT 4A satellite co-produced by Turkish and Japanese engineers in Tokyo.

As part of his official tour, Turkish Prime Minister visited Jan. 8 the satellite production center of the Mitsubishi Electric Company located in Tokyo, where the two satellites TÜRKSAT 4A and 4B were produced.

Erdoğan, in his speech at the center, stated that the project was a concrete indicator of the joint achievement of both countries in aerospace studies, aviation, science and technology.

The satellite will enable Türksat to offer telecommunication and TV broadcasting services throughout Turkey, as well as in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the company official said.

The Turkish prime minister confirmed that the satellite will be sent to the launch base in Kazakhstan and will be launched with a proton rocket on Feb. 15.

He added that they have been planning to launch the second one (TÜRKSAT 4B) in the second quarter of 2014 after its test period completes.

He said that this satellite would also provide television broadcast and satellite communication systems for the African continent.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, General Manager of TÜRKSAT Özkan Dalbay and General Manager of Mitsubishi Kenichiro Yamanishi signed the commemorative plaque to mark the satellite handover at the ceremony.

Before leaving Japan, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met the Emperor of Japan, Akihito in Tokyo Imperial Palace at a closed-door meeting which lasted approximately 30 minutes.

The Turkish PM flew to Singapore after the visit to continue his tour.