Turkey plans to launch a new telecommunication satellite by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012, Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday, Xinhua reported.
All necessary preparations were completed and the new satellite project will be put out to tender in 2009, Yildirim was quoted as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.
"We will pick the company and later building will start. Building the satellite takes at least 23 months or 30 months at most," said he, adding that "so, it can be launched by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012."
Yildirim said that Turkish engineers were working on a joint project to build another satellite, adding the next one would be built mostly by Turkish engineers. "Our goal is to build it by 2015," he said.
Turkey launched a satellite in June 2008. Turkey's new generation communication satellite "Turksat 3A" was launched from French Guianato to replace former satellite Turksat IC.