Many significant projects have been initiated at our TÜBİTAK ( The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey ) Gebze campus, Turkey’s research and development base, in recent times. Monday was a day of great pride for Turkey. Our national pride swelled as work was initiated on our first “national” communications satellite, the TÜRKSAT 6A, during a signing ceremony inaugurating the project, and during which we hosted our president.

This project, which will be carried out for TÜRKSAT under the stewardship of the TÜBİTAK Space Institute, will enable us to take a forward step and move on to communications satellites from observation satellites, the technology for which we began to acquire in the past few years.

It is a significant step because, if the project is concluded successfully, we will rank amongst a limited number of countries capable of manufacturing its own communications satellite. What I mean by success is the ability to develop this satellite with our own national resources and also the ability to launch it…

The sub-system work on the TÜRKSAT 6A, which will be locally engineered and designed, and the components that are expected to meet the needs of new-generation satellites, will create the infrastructure required for national satellites of the future. This satellite, apart from being the apple of our eye, can also be considered a strategic move.

The space age began 57 years ago. That is if we disregard the work of space geniuses like the Russian, Tsiolkovsky, and the American, Goddard, at the start of the 1900s, both of whom were inspired by Jules Verne’s book “From the Earth to the Moon”…

The U.S.S.R’s Sputnik, which means “traveling companion,” was the first satellite sent into space to orbit the planet in 1957. The United States, which comprehended the reality of the space age later, entered the space age after the U.S.S.R in 1958 by launching the Explorer-1. In the 1920s, the U.S. media, led by the New York Times, ridiculed Goddard’s idea of sending a rocket to the moon. This was how the competitive period known as the “space race” began.

Space research saw serious technological advances in the following decades on the basis of moves initiated by these two actors; and China followed in their footsteps and made major moves as well. In the new century, we are witnessing a space race amongst Asian nations, with China in the fore and Japan and India playing roles on the sidelines.

While the world was engaged in this race during the 20th century, Turkey was quite distant from space when it came to national capabilities. Our story started in 1994 with the TÜRKSAT 1B, followed by various other satellites. The idea of working on local technologies in this regard was germinated in the 2000s.

It could be said that our national adventure in regard to space technology gained momentum with TÜBİTAK’s BİLSAT satellite in 2003… This success, which gave us belief, continued with the RASAT in 2011 and the GÖKTÜRK-2 in 2012, all of which led to significant experience for us when it came to “earth observation satellites.” On Monday we took a step toward “communications satellites,” which also send data to the planet, with the TÜRKSAT 6A, on the basis of data we obtained from our earth observation satellites.

It was also satisfying to hear the emphasis placed on the soon to come online Turkish Space Agency during the signing ceremony. We have needed this agency for a long time now, in order to coordinate our space research and to provide vision.

I wish that all these initiatives, which I applauded with pride at the start of the week, succeed.  

Space research is conducted with huge funds. Even if the budgets in our country are not at the required level yet, they are constantly growing. Apart from financing, another essential element exists: human resources… While we come up with visions, we also need to sow the seeds with regard to the human factor that will implement these visions.

When our president asked during the signing ceremony, “Why shouldn’t our people not do more?” when it comes to space technology; it was actually reflective of something that occupies our minds when to comes to many areas of technology…

It was the day after the ceremony that we were seeking an answer to this question during a workshop led by SASAD at the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries. We debated the topic of “human resources that will carry Turkey into the future in the sector” at the meeting attended by stakeholders in the defense, aviation and space sector. I will list some of the topics that came to the fore during the workshop along with my personal opinions:

1-The creation of “high-level coordination in the sector,” a topic which I have always emphasized, and coming up with efficient education planning on the basis of that to address areas of need.

2-The designing of centers and higher education programs to increase the number and quality of people operating in critical areas, ranging from materials to mechanics, and from chemistry to biotechnology.

3-Leave aside the sector in general, the embracing of “human resources planning” in institutions that hold a stake in the issue but lack such measures.

4-The implementation of initiatives in universities, such as the co-op, where student involvement in the sector can be attained. This is because the current education system fails to produce enough talent when it comes to the implementation stage.

5-Supporting the post-graduate studies of employees instead of creating impediments, and making arrangements with universities and institutions in order to make such processes easier.

6-The adoption of management styles that motivate, reward and increase loyalty to the institution in order to ensure human resources sustainability in defense and space projects, which are long term in nature.

There is more but I have long since run out of space. When it comes to the human factor, both our state and the stakeholders in the sector have a lot of responsibility they need to shoulder.

We need to take all this and much more very seriously and act promptly.

There is no doubt that the human quality and quantity in the sector will determine our place both in space and on the planet.