According to information obtained by Anadolu from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), the country's 10-year plans and targets were determined within the scope of the National Space Program prepared with the contributions of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and various institutions in the country.

The AYAP, as one of the first of the 10 programs announced, aims to make Türkiye one of the few countries with a presence on the moon.

The first phase of the AYAP aims to explore the moon from orbit and make first contact with the lunar surface, while the second phase aims to land a rover on the surface using the soft landing method.

Within the scope of the first phase of the AYAP, mission operations will be carried out by developing a spacecraft that will reach the lunar orbit from Earth, collect data from there and then contact the lunar surface.

In addition, with the success of the technologies, products, software and equipment to be developed with national resources, the country's international reputation for system development and the ability to carry out challenging mission operations will be increased.

Within the scope of the AYAP, it is aimed to carry out Türkiye's first moon and deep space missions and gain operational experience.

It is planned to develop a spacecraft that can operate in lunar orbit (400,000 kilometers or around 249,000 miles from Earth) and is suitable for soft landing.

In addition, the Hybrid Propulsion System developed with domestic facilities is planned to gain space history, and high-resolution images and scientific data related to the origin of water on the moon, mini-magnetosphere formations, surface components, surface temperature and reflection maps and radiation from the lunar surface will be translated into information by scientists in Türkiye.

Although the project is currently being carried out under the AYAP within the National Space Program, many stakeholders from industry and academia in the country have direct input.

For this reason, it will also contribute to strengthening the country's space ecosystem.

Another contribution will be to increase Türkiye's competence in space sciences and the level of international cooperation with the information to be obtained through the data to be collected by the scientific payloads developed by domestic and international partners on the spacecraft.

With this project, which will open the door to deep space for the country, the interest of young people in space science and technologies will be strengthened.

AzVision.az

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