Why Somalia matters to Turkey’s growing space ambitions

Mogadishu, Somalia — Somalia’s position near the equator and its long Indian Ocean coastline are making it a key part of Turkey’s push for independent access to space, as Ankara develops a launch facility near Warsheikh in Middle Shabelle.

The project gained fresh attention after outgoing Turkish ambassador Alper Aktaş said a first satellite launch from Somali soil was expected in 2027, bringing a project once seen as a distant ambition closer to possible operation.

“If I had said five or 10 years ago that one day Somalia would launch a satellite into space…” Aktaş said at an event in Mogadishu last week.

He did not identify the satellite or provide technical details about the planned launch, but his remarks underscored the growing importance of the Warsheikh facility to Turkey’s wider space programme.

For Ankara, the reasons for choosing Somalia are increasingly clear. What Somalia ultimately gains from one of the most technologically ambitious projects undertaken on its territory is less well defined.

Geography is the asset

Somalia’s main advantage is geography.

A launch site close to the equator allows rockets heading into suitable orbits to take greater advantage of the Earth’s rotation.

NASA explains that a spacecraft launched near the equator is already moving eastwards at more than 1,650 kilometres per hour, reducing the amount of fuel required or allowing a rocket to carry a heavier payload.

The same principle helps explain why Europe operates the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, only a few degrees north of the equator.

Somalia also has a long coastline facing the Indian Ocean. Rockets can be launched eastwards over open water, reducing the risk of populated areas being struck by falling stages or debris and providing greater flexibility in some launch trajectories.

Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said that feasibility studies had examined potential locations before identifying Somalia as the “most advantageous region” for the planned spaceport.

He said feasibility and design work had been completed and the first phase of construction had begun on land allocated to Turkey under a bilateral cooperation agreement.

The site is near Warsheikh, a coastal town about 70 kilometres north of Mogadishu.

Ankara’s missing piece

For Turkey, the facility would fill an important gap in a space programme that has expanded rapidly but still relies on foreign launch infrastructure.

Turkey has developed its own communications and observation satellites, sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station and is preparing a lunar spacecraft for launch in 2027.

But building satellites and spacecraft is different from being able to launch them independently.

Turkey’s National Space Programme identifies independent access to space as a strategic objective, including the development of a launch vehicle system and the establishment of a spaceport.

The Warsheikh project could provide the geographical component Turkey cannot reproduce at home.

Turkish Space Agency chief Yusuf Kıraç said in April that the Somali spaceport was intended to provide Turkey with long-term independent access to space while offering payload advantages due to its equatorial location.

Kacır has also said the facility could eventually serve the global commercial launch market, allowing Turkey to generate revenue from satellite launches, testing and integration services.

That means Warsheikh could become more than a launch site for Turkish government missions. Ankara envisages infrastructure capable of supporting a commercial space industry while reducing its dependence on foreign launch facilities.

Meanwhile, Turkey is preparing a lunar spacecraft for the first months of 2027, using a domestically developed hybrid propulsion system.

Kacır has described the Somali spaceport as part of the country’s effort to secure independent and cost-effective access to space.

The project may also carry a wider strategic dimension.

Somalia Today reported in July that the Warsheikh facility could also be used to test long-range ballistic missiles. Turkey has publicly emphasised the project’s civilian space role and has not confirmed such plans.

What does Somalia get?

For Somalia, officials have presented the project as an opportunity to move beyond simply hosting infrastructure and develop expertise in science and advanced technology.

After talks between Somalia’s ambassador to Turkey and Turkish Space Agency officials in June, the project was expected to create opportunities for Somali youth in science, technology, research, and other skilled sectors.

It said the cooperation would also support knowledge transfer, capacity-building and economic growth , while helping Somalia participate more directly in the global space and technology industry.

But public statements so far provide much more detail about the strategic and commercial benefits for Turkey than about how those benefits will be shared with Somalia.

Neither side has publicly set out how many Somali engineers or other specialists will work at the facility, what role Somali institutions will have in launch operations, how commercial revenues will be structured or how technology transfer will work in practice.

Kacır has said the spaceport will generate revenue for Turkey while contributing to Somalia’s development, but the precise economic arrangements have not been disclosed.

That distinction matters because hosting a spaceport is not the same as developing an independent national space industry.

If launches begin in 2027, the longer-term measure of the project for Somalia will be whether it produces skilled jobs, scientific expertise, institutional capacity and economic returns beyond the launch site itself.

Somalia’s geography has already made it valuable to Turkey’s space ambitions. The next question is how much of that advantage Somalia can turn into technological and economic capability of its own.

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