Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.8 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
Turkey began receiving data from the country's second domestic reconnaissance satellite Göktürk-2, launched on Dec, 18, Anadolu Agency quoted Turkish Minister for Science, Industry and Technology, Nihat Ergun as saying on Tuesday.
He said the first data of Turkey's territory is pictures of Antalya Province, the first pictures of foreign territories - pictures of New Zealand.
The Göktürk-2 satellite flew over Turkish territory four times in a one day period and can take pictures of any area of the country.
The satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Chinese base on Dec.18. With a resolution of 2.5 meters, the satellite will be used for defence purposes.
Previously, in 2011, Turkey launched its first domestic reconnaissance satellite, RASAT.
It has been reported that the image resolution of the Göktürk-2 satellite will be three times larger than the RASAT satellite.
Creating satellites is part of a state programme aimed at ensuring that the Turkish army is fully armed with equipment and kitting itself out. Currently, Turkey has achieved a 50% level of self-sufficiency in this sphere.