Russia could take part in the development and construction of a Turkish spaceport in one of the equatorial countries, the head of Turkey's National Space Agency, Serdar Huseyin Yıldırım, told RIA Novosti.
"We could cooperate with Russia in many areas, on the spaceport, on rocket engines. We have discussed the possibility of Russia helping us build our cosmodrome. They have a lot of experience in this matter, both launch pads and cosmodromes themselves," he said at the GLEX conference.
Yıldırım specified that the Turkish side received information from the Center for operation of space ground-based infrastructure (TsENKI). More concrete work may begin in a year when Turkey decides on the location for the spaceport and international cooperation.
Turkey plans to build the spaceport in one of the countries on the equator and conduct commercial rocket launches from there, which will also be developed in international cooperation.
Now Russia and Turkey are preparing an intergovernmental agreement on space. According to Yıldırım, Russia has already submitted its version of the document, and various Turkish organizations and agencies are reviewing it. The agreement should be signed by the end of 2021.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Roskosmos
Based on materials from RIA Novosti