Turkey close to securing space technology agreements with Pakistan, Azerbaijan
Turkey has expressed intentions to cooperate with Pakistan and Azerbaijan in the field of space technology.
“Our contracts with Azerbaijan and Pakistan in the field of space activities are ready, we have reached the stage of signing,” Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank was quoted as saying by APA.
The minister said Turkey is at the signing stage of agreements with space agencies of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to improve collaboration in the use of space for civilian purposes which requires international cooperation.
Meanwhile, on February 9, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the country’s ambitious 10-year national space program which includes sending Turkish astronauts into space, developing a new generation of satellites, building a spaceport, and reaching the Moon by 2023 which is the primary and most important mission of the program. In January 2021, SpaceX launched a Turkish communications satellite into orbit.
Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan recently entered into a new phase of a strategic partnership with the visits of Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov to Islamabad last month.
The three friendly countries announced to improve collaboration in political, strategic, economic, security, science, and technology fields. The collaboration in space technology will take the partnership to a new level as the future of space will be marked by collaboration.
Pakistan launched its first communications satellite PAKSAT-1R in August 2011 that marked the defining moment in the country’s space program. In 2018, Pakistan launched a remote-sensing (PRSS-1) satellite and a technology evaluation satellite (PakTES-1A) after SUPARCO and the China Great Wall Industrial Cooperation signed a space cooperation agreement.
In 2014, Pakistan became the first foreign country to shift to the China-based GPS system called BeiDou which reduces dependency on Global Positioning System (GPS) by the United States in both civil and military sectors.
Collaboration with China and now Turkey will greatly benefit Pakistan to meet the goals of Pakistan’s Space Program 2047 and the country’s future scientific requirements.