Göktürk-2

Göktürk-2
	Model of Göktürk-2 displayed at the stand of TAI during the IDEF'15
Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	Turkish Ministry of National Defence
COSPAR ID	2012-073A
SATCAT no.	39030
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK); TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY); Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ)
Launch mass	400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	December 18, 2012, 16:12:52 UTC
Rocket	Chang Zheng 2D
Launch site	Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Inclination	98 degrees
Period	98 minutes

Göktürk-2 is an Earth observation satellite designed and developed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and built by TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) for the Turkish Ministry of National Defence.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Göktürk-2 was launched from Jiuquan Launch Area 4 / SLS-2 in China by a Long March 2D space launch vehicle at 16:12:52 UTC on December 18, 2012, one day before the initial schedule due to poor weather conditions in the region. Equipped with state of the art advanced technology developed by Turkey and a series of new enhancements to provide improved high resolution imagery, it was placed at 16:26 UTC into a low Earth orbit of 686 km (426 mi). The first signal from Göktürk-2 was received at 17:39 UTC in the Tromsø Satellite Station, northern Norway.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Produced with 80 per cent indigenously developed technology and 100% domestically developed software,^[6] the satellite offers high-resolution imagery of 2.5 m (8.2 ft) resolution at panchromatic, 10 m (33 ft) at multispectral (VNIR) and 20 m (66 ft) at SWIR band.^[2] It is Turkey's second national satellite following RASAT, which was launched from Russia on August 17 the same year. For the telecommunication, it has three S band receivers and transmitters. Göktürk-2 later put its solar panels into service, and began the week after the launch to send data and its first images, which were from the US, Brazil, India as well as Turkey's western city of Izmir.^[2]^[3]^[7]^[8]

Resolution and payload

Rahmi Güçlü of Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul, an engineer appointed by the Government of Turkey to audit and report on the Göktürk-2 program, has claimed that the imagery obtained from space by Göktürk-2 satellite can be used to identify even individuals, due to the state-of-the-art software filters they have developed and that the Turkish Government has already begun using the technology for obtaining intelligence on the military operations of several countries in the region.^[9]^[10]

In addition to its primary military reconnaissance mission, Göktürk-2 will carry out various civil applications on mapping and planning, landcover survey, geology, ecosystem monitoring, disaster management, environmental control, coastal zone management, and water resources.^[2]

The satellite is part of a family of Göktürk earth observations satellites, which Turkey is developing in order to increase its intelligence resources. As of December 2012, Göktürk-1 is in production and Göktürk-3 in project phase.^[11]

Foreign input

SpaceTech GmbH Immenstaad has supplied the solar generator system, which consists of the following:^[12]

three solar panels (including photovoltaic assembly),
panel deployment mechanisms,
the pyro drive module (PDM) electronics executing the deployment sequence of the mechanism.

Israeli objections

Israel had repeatedly voiced its objection to the launch of the Göktürk family of satellites by Turkey, stating that it would be used to obtain high resolution imagery of Israel, which could eventually fall into the wrong hands.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Israeli objections, stating that Turkey is a sovereign nation and as such it would not allow any Israeli interference with Turkey's decision to design, develop, manufacture and launch high resolution intelligence satellites.^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Gokturk 2". NASA. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Barbosa, Rui C. (2012-12-18). "China end 2012 with Long March 2D launch of Göktürk-2". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Yerli keşif uydusu Göktürk 2 uzaya fırlatıldı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
^ ^a ^b "Göktürk-2 uzaya fırlatıldı". Habertürk (in Turkish). 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
^ "Göktürk 2, yörüngeye ulaştı". Radikal (in Turkish). 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
^ Tamer, Meral. "Göktürk 2 uydusundan ilk görüntü geldi". Milliyet Ekonomi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2012-12-30.
^ "First images received from Gokturk-2 satellite". Turkish Press. 2012-12-26. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
^ "Turkey's Gokturk-2 satellite receives first images". World Bulletin. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
^ Sonay, Nesrullah (2012-12-29). "Göktürk-2 kulislerine cevap". Bugün Teknoloji (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
^ "Göktürk-2'den Rahatsız Oldular!". Haber Vakti (in Turkish). 2012-12-29. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
^ "İşte Türkiye'nin Uzay Programı" (in Turkish). Savunma Sanayi Net. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
^ "GökTürk-2 Solar Panels". SpaceTech GmbH Immenstaad. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
^ ^a ^b Stephen Chen (2012-12-13). "Controversial Turkish satellite launch caps year for China's space programme". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
^ "Turkey, Israel to face new crisis over Göktürk project". Today's Zaman. 2011-10-31. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
^ "Turkish satellite to roll back Israel's turf veil". Reuters. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
^ "Israel, Turkey to clash over Gokturk satellite - report". Globes. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
^ "Turkish satellite to roll back Israel's turf veil". Al Arabiya. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2012-12-20.

External links

[n1-1] "Gokturk 2". NASA. Retrieved 2013-01-10.

[nasa-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Barbosa, Rui C. (2012-12-18). "China end 2012 with Long March 2D launch of Göktürk-2". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.

[h-3] "Yerli keşif uydusu Göktürk 2 uzaya fırlatıldı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-18.

[ht-4] "Göktürk-2 uzaya fırlatıldı". Habertürk (in Turkish). 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-18.

[5] "Göktürk 2, yörüngeye ulaştı". Radikal (in Turkish). 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-24.

[me-6] Tamer, Meral. "Göktürk 2 uydusundan ilk görüntü geldi". Milliyet Ekonomi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2012-12-30.

[7] "First images received from Gokturk-2 satellite". Turkish Press. 2012-12-26. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-12-30.

[8] "Turkey's Gokturk-2 satellite receives first images". World Bulletin. Retrieved 2012-12-30.

[9] Sonay, Nesrullah (2012-12-29). "Göktürk-2 kulislerine cevap". Bugün Teknoloji (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2013-01-13.

[10] "Göktürk-2'den Rahatsız Oldular!". Haber Vakti (in Turkish). 2012-12-29. Retrieved 2013-01-13.

[11] "İşte Türkiye'nin Uzay Programı" (in Turkish). Savunma Sanayi Net. Retrieved 2012-12-22.

[12] "GökTürk-2 Solar Panels". SpaceTech GmbH Immenstaad. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.

[scmp-13] Stephen Chen (2012-12-13). "Controversial Turkish satellite launch caps year for China's space programme". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2012-12-20.

[14] "Turkey, Israel to face new crisis over Göktürk project". Today's Zaman. 2011-10-31. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2012-12-20.

[15] "Turkish satellite to roll back Israel's turf veil". Reuters. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2012-12-20.

[16] "Israel, Turkey to clash over Gokturk satellite - report". Globes. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-12-20.

[17] "Turkish satellite to roll back Israel's turf veil". Al Arabiya. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2012-12-20.

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v t e ← 2011 Orbital launches in 2012 2013 →
January	Ziyuan III-01, VesselSat-2 Fengyun 2-07 USA-233 Progress M-14M
February	Navid LARES, ALMASat-1, Xatcobeo, UniCubeSat-GG, ROBUSTA, e-st@r, Goliat, MaSat-1, PW-Sat SES-4 Compass-G5 MUOS-1
March	Edoardo Amaldi ATV Intelsat 22 Kosmos 2479 Apstar 7
April	USA-234 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Progress M-15M YahSat-1B RISAT-1 Compass-M3, Compass-M4
May	USA-235 Tianhui 1B Yaogan 14, Tiantuo 1 Soyuz TMA-04M JCSAT-13, Vinasat-2 Kosmos 2480 Shizuku, Kompsat 3, SDS-4, Horyu 2 Nimiq 6 SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2, New Frontier Fajr ChinaSat 2A Yaogan 15
June	Intelsat 19 NuSTAR Shenzhou 9 USA-236 / Quasar 18 USA-237 / Orion 8
July	EchoStar XVII, MSG-3 SES-5 Soyuz TMA-05M Kounotori 3 (Raiko, We-Wish, Niwaka, TechEdSat, F-1) Kanopus-V1, BelKA-2, Zond-PP, TET-1, exactView-1 Tianlian I-03 Gonets-M No.3, Gonets-M No.4, Kosmos 2481, MiR
August	Progress M-16M (Sfera-53) Intelsat 20, HYLAS 2 Telkom-3, Ekspress-MD2 Intelsat 21 RBSP-A, RBSP-B
September	SPOT 6, PROITERES, mRESINS USA-238, SMDC-ONE 1.1, SMDC-ONE 1.2, AeroCube 4, AeroCube 4A, AeroCube 4B, Aeneas, Re, CSSWE, CP5, CXBN, CINEMA 1 MetOp-B Compass-M5, Compass-M6 Astra 2F, GSAT-10 VRSS-1
October	USA-239 SpaceX CRS-1, Orbcomm-2 David, Sif Shijian 9-01, Shijian 9-02 Intelsat 23 Soyuz TMA-06M Compass G6 Progress M-17M
November	Luch 5B, Yamal-300K Eutelsat 21B, Star One C3 Meridian 6 Huanjing 1C EchoStar XVI Yaogan 16A, Yaogan 16B, Yaogan 16C ChinaSat 12
December	Pléiades-HR 1B Eutelsat 70B Yamal-402 USA-240 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 Göktürk-2 Soyuz TMA-07M Skynet 5D, Mexsat Bicentenario
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).