Japanese space policy minister visits Türksat headquarters

Japanese Minister of Space Policy Mr. Yosuke Tsuruho accompanied by Japanese delegates paid a visit to Türksat Headquarters located in Gölbaşı as part of his visit to Turkey, on 9 September 2016.

Türksat’s CEO, Cenk Şen, welcomed Mr. Tsuruho and the accompanying delegates, and after a briefing on Türksat and its area of operations Mr. Tsuruho and his party visited the Hasan Lagari Çelebi Museum located at the Türksat Martyr Ahmet Özsoy Center. After the museum visit, the Japanese delegation examined the different areas of the campus that were hit during the attempted coup on 15 July 2016. The visit came to end with a gift exchange between both parties and photographs were taken, after which lunch was served.

The visit to Türksat by Mr. Tsuruho comes on the heels of the recently signed space cooperation agreement between Turkey and Japan in Ankara on 8 September 2016.

The cooperative arrangement will offer opportunities to deploy a Turkish-built cube satellite (CubeSat) from the Kibo module and to conduct space experiments in an exposed environment using the Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism called ExHAM on board Kibo. The CubeSat is called UBAKUSAT and is being built by the Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ). According to Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah, the Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, Mr. Ahmet Arslan said, “We have launched bilateral experiment process. Apart from satellites, we also experiment on new space material which was also created by İTÜ on Japanese space stations. We will soon hand over to the Japanese Minister a new material to have it tested on their space station.”

The signing ceremony of the Agreement was held in Ankara, Turkey, in the presence of Mr. Tsuhuro and H.E. Ahmet Arslan, the Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications.

Original published at: spacewatchme.com/2016/09/japanese-space-policy-minister-visits-turksat-headquarters