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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Turkey, Telespazio Ink Satellite Deal

BY BURAK EGE BEKDIL
ANKARA - Turkey's defense and procurement authorities have finalized a critical deal with an Italy-based company for the construction and launching of the country's first military satellite.
The 250 million-euro ($390 million) contract was signed here July 16 at a ceremony attended by top Turkish officials and company representatives. The attendees included Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and chief procurement official, Murad Bayar.Turkish officials earlier said they would start contract negotiations with Telespazio, a unit of Italy's defense giant Finmeccanica, for the satellite program, dubbed Gokturk. The contract signing completed the tender process.The agreement covers the supply of an Earth-observation satellite equipped with a high-resolution optical sensor, an integration and test center for satellites to be built in Turkey, and the entire ground segment of the system, which will carry out in-orbit operation, data acquisition and processing.Telespazio is the prime contractor. Thales Alenia Space, owned by French Thales (67 percent) and Finmeccanica (33 percent), will be responsible for the satellite. Local industrial partners include Tusas Turkish Aerospace Industries, a satellite unit of the state scientific research institute TUBITAK, and defense companies Maleri, Aselsan and Roketsan. Telespazio will also be responsible for the satellite launch, early orbit and test services.Under the program, the Turkish industry will be involved at the system design and development phase and in supplying some subsystems. In particular, local partners will assist in the building of the data acquisition station, the satellite integration center, mission planning systems and remotely sensed data processors.

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