Turkish Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center

Turkish Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center
Uydu Montaj, Entegrasyon ve Test Merkezi
Abbreviation UMET
Purpose Spacecraft engineering
Headquarters Kazan, Ankara, Turkey
Coordinates 40°07′32″N 32°32′55″E / 40.12547°N 32.54855°ECoordinates: 40°07′32″N 32°32′55″E / 40.12547°N 32.54855°E
Main organ
 Turkish Ministry of National Defence
Parent organization
 Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)

Turkish Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center (Turkish: Uydu Montaj, Entegrasyon ve Test Merkezi) (UMET) is a spacecraft production and testing facility owned by the Ministry of National Defence and operated by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). It is located in Ankara, Turkey.[1]

Considered as a critical infrastructure, the center was established in the framework of Göktürk-1 project, which started in 2009, for indigenously realization of satellite assembly as well as for qualification and acceptance testing from the design to the launch phase. It was part of the contract signed with the multinational space services company Telespazio in 2010.[2] Situated within the TAI's ground in Kazan district of Ankara Province, the budgeted cost of the facility is US$100 million.[1][3][4][5][6]

UMET is a technology center, at which all satellites to be produced in Turkey up to 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) mass can be tested in simulated space environmental conditions related to the orbit. Two satellites can be produced and tested at the same time. The center serves military and civilian institutions.[4][5][7]

Development of Türksat series communication satellites, starting with Türksat 5A, and Göktürk series earth observation satellites, will be carried out by Turkish engineers at this site.[4][8]

End November 2014, it was announced that the construction of the facility was completed, and the center was put into operation. The center' Class 100,000 clean rooms cover an area of around 3,800 m2 (41,000 sq ft).[2] It is capable of assembly, integration and testing of several satellites of type Low Earth orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous orbit (GEO) with a mass up to five tonnes simultaneously.[9] It has a direct connection to the airbase so that a transportation by land becomes needless offering advantages of security, economy and risk management.[10]

The center has following capabilites:

The advanced integration and environmental tests of Göktürk-1 is the first project to be carried out in the center. After completion, the satellite will be sent to the launch site by TUSAŞ.[10]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Münir, Metin (2012-02-22). "Ne biliyoruz ne bilmiyoruz". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Satellite integration and test center in Turkey passes major milestone". Thales Group. 2013-07-12. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  3. ↑ "Italian firm Telespazio wins Turkish satellite project". Today's Zaman. 2008-12-20. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Taşpınar, Özgür (2011-07-05). "İşte Türkiye'nin uzay programı". NTV-MSNBC (in Turkish). Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "GOKTURK-1". TAI. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  6. ↑ "Thales Alenia Space choose LDS V994 Shaker for Satellite Testing". Bruel & Kjaer. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  7. ↑ "Assembly Integration and Test Center Activities in Turkey". IEEE Xplore. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  8. ↑ "Türksat 4A ve Türksat 4B Uyduları" (in Turkish). Türksat. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Spacecraft AIT Center". TAI. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Türkiye'nin uydu merkezi tamamlandı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2014-11-28.