Turkey is investing in its independent spatial infrastructure through a new local satellites’ capacity, a sector representative said on Monday, with more than 100 space tools to guarantee its sovereignty in orbit.
Haluk Bayraktar, from SAHA Istanbul, declared that Turkey has turned from a technology importer in 2002 to a global air space technology producer, while domestic production level has increased from 20 percent to 80 percent over the past two decades.
Speaking at the opening of the 77th International Astronautics Congress ( IAC 2026) in the southwestern town of Antalya, Bayraktar said Turkey’s annual exports to the field of defence and airspace have increased from $250m to a total of $11 billion over the same period.
Now we reach just one week of exports that we produced in 2002 over a year. What started in a small workshop by a handful of young engineers turned into an attempt to design and by domestic means produce critical components of flying vehicles ( UAV, making Turkey a leader in this area, which represents 65 percent of the USV’s global export market, as well as a country exporting technology to more than 40 countries, he said.
Bayraktar said that the philosophy of flexible development is empowering the Turkish industrial ecosystem, which is already extending to orbit to reduce dependence on foreign spatial technology.
We are building a powerful spatial infrastructure with our communications satellites and a 100 satellite positioning control to create an independent navigation system, he said, adding that the country has already developed capabilities ranging from probe missiles that range from over 100 kilometers to local hybrid vehicles for orbital transfer.
He mentioned that IAC’s topic this year is the world needs more space, which you think has two meanings.
In the sense that more countries get to orbit at lower cost, and open opportunities, in the sense of more small businesses in the chain of supply and new engineers at the table, as well as countries once told that space was not for them, he stressed.
He added that Turkey is investing in new talents through initiatives like TEKNO FEST, the main defence and aviation activity that recently organised an event in the country’s southeast for the first time and attracted 1.6 million applications from students for engineering and rocket racing. / AA/