ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Tuesday that despite obstacles and restrictions, Türkiye is expanding its presence in space, referring to the country's newly launched homegrown satellite Turksat 6A.

Turksat 6A was launched Monday at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2330GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the US state of Florida by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Erdogan said Türkiye also sent its Turksat 5B satellite by the same rocket two and a half years ago, adding: "We are pleased to strengthen our cooperation with Elon Musk and SpaceX in various fields."

He said Türkiye has completed more than 81% of the sub-systems and software work with domestic sources for Turksat 6A, which has importance for the country's future in the space field.

As part of its national space program, Türkiye realized its first manned space travel recently, he recalled.

With Turksat 6A, Türkiye reached a new phase in the production of satellites, Erdogan noted.

He said Turksat 6A will increase the coverage capacity of Türkiye's satellites, including countries such as India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

With Turksat 6A, Turksat's service exports will also increase, and Türkiye will join other countries with the capability to produce their own communications satellites.

He also said it is significant that Türkiye is able to produce critical communications satellites without foreign dependence.