Turkish defense company Aselsan plans to build Astralink, a communications network of 198 satellites in low Earth orbit.
Company chief Ahmet Akyol said at the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya that the first satellite is expected to launch within the next two years. He said the network is intended to provide secure communications for Türkiye and countries friendly to it. Anadolu reported that it is also designed to support more than one million ground user terminals.
Akyol said the system would use a waveform developed by Aselsan, the company’s own chips and subsystems developed with its partners. Aselsan aims to complete the project and offer the solution on international markets. Haberler and state-run Anadolu Agency reported the announcement. The congress is being held in Antalya from Oct. 5 to 9.