Türkiye Links 2027 Moon Mission to National Rocket and Somalia Spaceport Push
By Bosphorus News Technology Desk
Türkiye aims to reach the Moon in 2027 by firing a national hybrid rocket motor, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said at SAHA 2026, placing the mission inside a broader push for independent access to space and future satellite transfer services.
Kacır spoke on May 6 at the Satellite Technologies Development Call Signing Ceremony during the SAHA 2026 International Defence, Aerospace and Space Industry Fair at the Istanbul Expo Center. His remarks tied the Moon target to rockets, satellites, launch infrastructure and a future market in high value space services.
"Türkiye will reach the Moon in 2027 by firing its own national hybrid rocket motor," Kacır said. "And it will become the first country to use this technology in deep space and give this technology a history in deep space."
The minister said the project would do more than place Türkiye among the small group of countries able to reach the Moon. He said it would also help Türkiye develop and produce spacecraft capable of transferring satellites between orbits, then offer that service to international customers as a high value export.
That part of the announcement carries the strongest industrial message. Ankara is trying to move beyond satellite production into a more demanding layer of the space economy, where launch access, orbital transfer vehicles and mission services can shape the commercial value of a national space program.
Kacır said the global space economy has surpassed $600 billion a year and could reach $1 trillion within a few years. Türkiye, he said, wants to become one of the world's major players in both space products and space services, following the path it has taken in defence exports.
The minister also connected space technology directly to defence and aviation autonomy. Many critical defence systems displayed at SAHA 2026, he said, depend on space-linked capabilities. Full independence in defence and aviation, in his framing, requires full independence in space technologies as well.
Türkiye has already built part of that base through satellite programs. Kacır cited BİLSAT, RASAT, GÖKTÜRK and İMECE as milestones in imaging satellites, and said Türkiye became one of 11 countries able to develop and produce its own communications satellite through Türksat 6A.
He said work is now underway on Türksat 7A, while İMECE 2 and İMECE 3 are intended to move Türkiye toward higher-resolution imaging capabilities. Those projects form the satellite layer Ankara wants to connect with deeper space missions and future launch services.
The harder target is independent access to space. Kacır said Türkiye develops and produces its own satellites, yet still sends them into orbit from other countries and with rockets developed by others.
"Our goal is to reach the level of full independent access to space," Kacır said.
He described that goal as requiring progress on two fronts. The first is rocket technology, where he said Türkiye has made major advances under ROKETSAN's leadership. The second is launch infrastructure.
Kacır said Türkiye had started building the spaceport in Somalia
in line with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's vision. He said the infrastructure would serve Türkiye's own needs while allowing the country to export launch-related services as demand for cost-effective access to space grows worldwide.
That gives the Somali project a more direct place in Türkiye's space strategy. The spaceport is being presented as part of a chain linking Turkish satellites, national rocket technologies, Moon access and commercial launch services, rather than as a stand-alone overseas infrastructure project.
The signing ceremony added an industrial layer to the same agenda. Project partnership agreements were signed under the Satellite Technology Development Call, including the Gezgin-1 project, a micro-satellite project involving Turkish Aerospace Industries and partners, and satellite-based communications network design projects supporting mobile communications technologies.
Kacır also said Türkiye will host the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Antalya from October 5 to 9, 2026. He said nearly 15,000 guests from around 100 countries are expected to attend, and that the congress has broken a scientific paper record under Türkiye's host role.
SAHA 2026 has already put Türkiye's defence, aerospace and missile programs under a wider technology spotlight. The Moon mission announcement adds a space economy layer to that picture, with Ankara presenting rockets, satellites and launch infrastructure as connected pieces of the same industrial strategy.
What comes next will decide how much weight the announcement carries beyond SAHA 2026. The 2027 Moon target will have to move through a visible technical calendar, from the national hybrid rocket motor to mission architecture and flight validation. The Somali spaceport and orbital transfer plans will follow their own path through construction, testing and service readiness. Türkiye has now put the next stage of its space program in public view, but the story will be measured by engines fired, vehicles tested and launch infrastructure brought into use.