15 October 2015•Update: 15 October 2015
ANKARA
Turkey will launch its Turksat 4B telecommunications satellite from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Friday night, the Turkish Communications Ministry announced in a statement Thursday.
The Turksat 4B will be Turkey's sixth satellite in orbit, which will work in tandem with Turksat 4A that was launched on Feb. 25, 2015.
Turkish and Japanese engineers at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation jointly produced the Turksat 4B telecommunication satellite.
The satellite’s designed mission life is for 15 years and beyond, the ministry said.
“Turksat 4B will operate in the Eastern orbit of 50.0 degrees. It will cover south western Asia, including Turkey, Africa, Europe, Middle East and central Asia in its coverage area.” Feridun Bilgin, Turkish transportation, maritime affairs and communications minister, said in the statement.
Bilgin said that with Turksat 4B, fees of internet services would be reduced and residents of Turkey would get faster internet.
