Space Activities and the Simultaneous Development of the Economy in Türkiye

Abstract

As space technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives, they have profoundly influenced the course of human civilization since 1957. These technologies have provided humanity with many remarkable insights. Therefore, they have an important role in modern society. Satellite technology is not only vital for military and defence but also for civil applications such as transportation, communication, disaster management, agriculture planning, land, and urban planning. These applications make the space sector an engine of economic growth having advanced and the state-of-the art technology. Technological advances in space continuously benefit the citizens of developed countries. The space economy is defined as all the actions and resources that produce value and benefit to people through exploration, research, knowledge, management, and utility of space. Through satellite communications, navigation systems, earth observation missions, space science and technology research, employment is created, economic growth is achieved, and many industries become more competitive in worldwide economic market. Spinoff companies are born from space activities. In 1994, the Türkiye had its first communication satellite TURKSAT 1B built by Aerospatiale; thus, Türkiye entered the space field being an operator in its region. After millennium, the Turkish space industry has ramped-up by developing its dedicated communication and observation satellites, and their subsystems and creating a launcher system for microsatellites. Türkiye is now developing space technology more comprehensively. This article describes recent developments of space activities and future work in Türkiye. In the article, the strategies in other countries in space technologies are also discussed and suggestions are made for space technology education, development of space economy and regulation of space activities for Türkiye.