Türkiye plans $400M investment in space programme, advances plans for spaceport in Somalia

Türkiye’s three-year funding plan will support lunar exploration, homegrown rocket technology and the development of a spaceport in Somalia to secure independent access to orbit.

The funds will support high-tech entrepreneurship, research and development, and the domestic production, testing of key space systems, subsystems.

Türkiye plans to allocate more than 20 billion Turkish lira ($398.7 million) to the Turkish Space Agency to accelerate its National Space Program goals and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign aerospace technology.

The annual allocation under the three-year financial package is expected to increase from $117.2 million in 2027 to $134.5 million in 2028 and reach $147.4 million in 2029.

The funds will support high-tech entrepreneurship, research and development, and the domestic production and testing of key space systems and subsystems.

They will also accelerate efforts under Türkiye's lunar exploration program to achieve a hard landing on the lunar surface by next year and ensure independent access to orbit through a spaceport in Somalia.

The lunar spacecraft, developed under the leadership of the Space division of the Scientific and Technological Research Institution (TUBITAK), will conduct research in lunar orbit and descend to the lunar surface using its homegrown hybrid propulsion system.

The agency is also targeting deep-space exploration by setting up an advanced research and development centre to develop fusion technology for future propulsion systems.

The facility is expected to reach 60 percent completion next year and be fully completed by 2029.

Plans are underway to establish a space weather application centre to monitor and model space weather fluctuations. The centre is expected to be as much as 40 percent complete within the three-year funding period.