12.12.2025
Türkiye has begun construction of a space launch facility in Somalia, marking the country's entry into an exclusive group of nations with oceanside spaceports, Board Chairman of Baykar Selcuk Bayraktar announced on Thursday.
"Türkiye now has a space launch station. Normally, you need to be by the ocean. Türkiye has a 30 kilometer by 30 kilometer area in Somalia," Bayraktar said during a panel at Take Off İstanbul 2025.
"When you have oceanside access, you can deploy launch vehicles, meaning you have a spaceport. There are 12 such places in the world. Because Somalia is part of our heartland geography, there will be a space station there," he noted.
"Construction has been started by the state. Roketsan will also use it. Allah willing, we will also have the opportunity to use our launch vehicle there," Bayraktar added.
Selcuk Bayraktar, chairman of Teknofest and the T3 Foundation, spoke during the panel "Entrepreneurship Is Resistance" at Take Off Istanbul 2025, Dec. 11, 2025. (AA Photo)
Baykar developing an indigenous GPS named 'Ulug Bey'
Bayraktar discussed Türkiye's space initiatives under the Fergani venture, which employs 130 engineers developing satellite and positioning technologies.
"We are trying to build a global positioning system," Bayraktar said.
"We recently launched our orbital transfer vehicle. Orbital transfer vehicles take you from one orbit to a higher orbit," he noted.
Bayraktar emphasized the strategic importance of an indigenous positioning system for national independence, stating, "Global positioning systems are very critical for our independence because you can jam or spoof global positioning systems."
"Imagine you are traveling somewhere in your car, and it shows you in a completely different place. We are in one of the regions most exposed to jamming in the world. This is also very critical for the defense industry," Bayraktar said.
"Our global positioning system will be named Ulug Bey," Bayraktar added, referencing the 15th-century Timurid astronomer.
Bayraktar said Baykar has become the world's largest unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company, with 90% of revenues derived from exports.
Nuclear energy 'essential' for AI computing power
Bayraktar emphasized energy independence as critical for Türkiye's technological future, particularly for artificial intelligence applications.
"If we are going to have computing power, the path goes through nuclear energy," Bayraktar said, adding, "When operations per second in artificial intelligence are discussed, the question 'How much energy do you have?' comes up."
Bayraktar said Teknofest is organizing competitions in nuclear technology, receiving over 100 applications from participants designing reactors.
Bayraktar also announced Teknofest will be held in Sanliurfa from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 next year.
"We have aircraft in 37 countries. Baykar holds 60% of the world export market," Bayraktar said, noting, "We are a big family of 8,000 people working on high-technology, high-value-added products."
Quelle: Türkiye Today
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Update: 2.01.2026
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Türkiye has completed the necessary feasibility and design work for a space port it will establish in Somalia, and the first phase of construction has begun, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir announced on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared Türkiye’s plans to establish the space port during a joint press conference with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Istanbul.
In a statement to Anadolu regarding the details of the project, Kacir said that the port is being built on land allocated to Türkiye in Somalia under a cooperation agreement signed between the two countries.
Noting that countries located in the equatorial region have technical advantages in terms of access to space, he said: “As a result of the feasibility studies conducted, Somalia emerged as the most advantageous region for space port investment.”
He said that work within the scope of the “Access to Space and Space Port” objective included in the National Space Program is being carried out under the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Technology with the contributions of relevant institutions and organisations, primarily the Turkish Space Agency.
“Türkiye’s possession of a space port is a strategic step that will position our country as an independent, competitive and globally influential actor in space activities,” he said.
“This investment offers long-term and high multiplier effect gains in terms of the space economy.”
Kacir stressed that first and foremost, this investment will enable the fully independent launch of satellite launch vehicles developed in Türkiye into space and will create a sustainable and competitive domestic industrial ecosystem in the field of launch technologies.
The ecosystem, which will deepen in critical areas such as rocket engines, fuel technologies, propulsion systems, advanced technology materials, avionics and ground support infrastructure, will ensure that technological gains become permanent and that external dependency is eliminated, he underscored.
Kacir said the space port will have the capacity to serve the global commercial space market.
‘Historic global prestige in space sector’
He emphasised that the port will become strategic infrastructure that generates revenue for Türkiye through annually increasing commercial satellite launch services, testing activities and integration processes, while also contributing to Somalia’s development.
Explaining that Somalia’s location near the equator, its coastal position, favorable weather conditions for launches throughout the year and low air-sea traffic density offer significant advantages in terms of launch safety and efficiency, Kacir said that these advantages will enable flexible launch schedules, making Türkiye’s systems globally competitive.
He highlighted that this investment will place Türkiye among the few countries in the world with their own launch sites.
“Very few countries in the world have independent satellite launch infrastructure,” he noted.
“Türkiye’s place in this league represents a historic milestone in terms of technological maturity, strategic independence and global prestige in the space sector,” he said.
Ultimately, the space port will serve as a strategic lever that provides Türkiye with independent access to space, strengthens national security, deepens industrial and technological capacity and elevates the country to the top tier of the global space economy, he added.
Quelle: TRT AFRIKA