Turkish Space Systems, Integration and Test Centre ( tr, Uzay Sistemleri, Entegrasyon ve Test Merkezi) (USET) is a

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

production and testing facility owned by the

Ministry of National Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and operated by

Turkish Aerospace Industries Turkish Aerospace Inc. ( tr, Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayi A.Ş., TUSAŞ) is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey. Located in Ankara ...

(TAI). It is located in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. The facility's official inauguration took place on May 21, 2015 in presence of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Considered as a critical infrastructure, the centre was established within the framework of the Göktürk-1 project, which started in 2009, for the indigenous realization of satellite assembly, as well as for

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

and acceptance testing from design to launch phase. It was the product of an agreement between the Turkish Ministry of National Defence and the multinational space services company

Telespazio Telespazio Spa is a European spaceflight services company founded in 1961. It is a joint venture owned by Leonardo (67%) and Thales Group (33%) headquartered in Rome. Telespazio provides services that include the design and development of space ...

in 2010. Situated within TAI's grounds in the

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

district of

Ankara Province Ankara Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey with the capital city Ankara. Demographics History The site of the modern city has been home to settlements by many historic Anatolian civilizations in antiquity and classical times, in ...

, the budgeted cost of the facility is US$100 million. USET is a technology centre, at which all satellites up to mass can be assembled and tested in simulated space environmental conditions related to the orbit. Two satellites can be produced and tested at the simultaneously. The centre serves military and civilian institutions. Development of the Türksat series

communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

s, starting with

Türksat 5A Türksat 5A, is a Turkish communications satellite, operated by Türksat A.Ş. for commercial and military purposes. History According to an agreement signed in September 2011, the satellite was developed by specialists in cooperation with ...

, and Göktürk series earth observation satellites, will be carried out by Turkish engineers at this site. At the end of November 2014, it was announced that the construction of the facility was completed, and the centre was put into operation. The centre's Class 100,000 clean rooms cover an area of around . It is capable of the assembly, integration and testing of several satellites of type

Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

(LEO) and Geosynchronous orbit (GEO) with a mass up to five tonnes simultaneously. It has a direct connection to the airbase so that a transport by land becomes needless, offering advantages of security, economy and risk management. The centre has the following capabilities: * thermal vacuum tests, *

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

/ EMC tests, * compact antenna measurement range (CATR) tests, *

solar array A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and ...

deployment tests, *

vibration Vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. The word comes from Latin ''vibrationem'' ("shaking, brandishing"). The oscillations may be periodic, such as the motion of a pendulum—or random, su ...

tests, * mass properties measurement, * acoustic tests, and * MLI preparation. The advanced integration and environmental tests of Göktürk-1 is the first project to be carried out in the centre. After completion, the satellite will be sent to the launch site by TUSAŞ.

References

{{authority control Space program of Turkey Ministry of National Defense (Turkey) Kahramankazan Space technology research institutes Buildings and structures completed in 2014 2014 establishments in Turkey Buildings and structures in Ankara Province