Turkey’s First International Space Defense Workshop: Held Under the Leadership of TUYAD in Istanbul

TUYAD, which took action considering the importance of international cooperation in order to take a strong place in the race for existence in space, held Turkey’s first International Defense in Space Workshop in Istanbul on May 15, 2024. At the workshop attended by 27 speakers from 11 different countries, more than 300 visitors expressed their opinions about space, military space, space vehicles, new/commercial space, near and future space technologies

At “Cubesat Vision International Space Defense Workshop” TUYAD President Hayrettin Özaydın made the opening speech of the workshop held under the title. Afterwards, senior executives of Contec, Intelsat and Telespazio, one of the leading companies in the sector, presented the current infrastructure and future work and road maps on the subject

20 Panelists discussed Defense in Space

Following the opening presentations, panel sessions were held on 4 main topics. 20 panelists representing the industry’s leading domestic and foreign institutions (space agencies, commercial, public and academic organizations) presented current developments.

The moderators who managed the workshop provided a successful information exchange environment by ensuring the active participation of the audience. The evaluation and final report of this workshop, which lasted until late hours due to the active participation of more than 300 visitors and interactive question-answer sections, was prepared following the workshop by Hedef Koç Consultancy Company, which provides consultancy services in satellite and communication technologies.

77 Countries Established Their Own Space Agency!

Within the scope of the evaluation, it was stated that the space race between countries has gained great momentum. It has been stated that 77 countries in the world, including Turkey, have established their own space agencies and the armed forces of all developed countries have activated their own space force commands. Additionally, it was stated that dozens of start-up companies that started working in this field join each year. However, it has been emphasized that the small satellite market has entered a new large commercial field that also includes military elements. Based on the presentations, it was shared that only the civilian part of this 630 billion dollar market will grow 9% every year and reach a market value of 1.8 trillion dollars in 2035.

TUYAD President Hayrettin Özaydın stated that they aimed for this workshop, held under the leadership of TUYAD, to be instrumental in developing international cooperation, believing that Turkey should be present in this race, follow technological trends and develop defense strategies against the problems that the new space age will bring. He also stated that they aim to reveal our country’s potential in this field by emphasizing the importance of space defense.

In its successful realization, He expressed his gratitude to companies and leading institutions of the sector such as TUA, TURKSAT, SAHA İstanbul, Ulak İletişim, C-Tech, SASAD, GUHEM, TUBİTAK Uzay, İTÜ, Marmara University, Haliç University, Erciyes University, as well as from abroad, Intelsat (SES) ,Contec, Reliasat and Telespazio for their support and contributions.

They also announced that they have decided to organize organizations such as “space and satellite” concept conferences, workshops and fairs on a larger scale under the title of Cubesat Vision. TUYAD, which is the only non-governmental organization in the satellite sector and has been active for twenty-three years, pointed out the necessity of international fairs and festivals in the sector and announced that its leading role in this field will continue, that it is open to national and international collaborations, and that they will contribute to the development and growth of the sector with their existing experience and all their opportunities

New Organization in Ankara on December 10

In this context, at the end of the workshop, all participants and sponsors were invited to the new Cubesat Vision event, which will be more comprehensive and will be held at BTK Hall (https://www.btk.gov.tr) in Ankara on December 10, 2024.