Four Turkic states sign a preliminary space agreement in Antalya

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan signed a preliminary agreement on space industry cooperation within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Antalya, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies said on 7 October. The joint OTS-SAT satellite is now planned for 2027, The Astana Times reported.

The ministry's page says the agreement covers space technologies, satellite development, scientific research, industrial cooperation and capacity building. It names the document the "Preliminary Agreement on the Development of Cooperation Potential in the Space Industry within the Organization of Turkic States" and says it was signed during the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Antalya. It describes the agreement as an important step towards institutional cooperation among OTS members. Shukhrat Kadirov, director of Uzbekistan's Uzcosmos Agency, attended the meeting. The page does not name the signing agencies or the other signatories, and it does not mention OTS-SAT.

The Astana Times called the document a framework agreement and gave the same four signatories and the same scope, with specialist training added. It did not state the date of signing, though the congress ran from 5 to 9 October. It quoted OTS Secretary General Kubanychbek Omuraliev as saying the agreement demonstrates the organisation's commitment to scientific, technological and industrial cooperation, and Kazakh digital minister Zhaslan Madiyev as saying he expects OTS-SAT to become the first practical space project of the OTS.

The same report says OTS-SAT is a 12U satellite developed by Kazakhstan's Ghalam company in Astana, its engineering model has been assembled, and it is meant to demonstrate technologies in orbit and test new subsystem solutions. The Times of Central Asia describes Ghalam as a Kazakh-French joint venture that develops spacecraft and components at the Astana assembly and testing complex.

The launch date has moved. In October 2025, after the OTS heads of state council hosted by Azerbaijan, Anadolu reported that the group would pool resources to speed up the project, with a target launch year of 2026. On 30 March the OTS secretariat said a working group meeting in Tashkent had discussed finalising the manufacturing stage of the satellite and had called for continued work on satellite systems, ground infrastructure and data processing. None of the sources reviewed gives a reason for the change to 2027. Kazakhstan's government separately set out on 6 October plans for six new Earth remote sensing satellites; its summary does not mention OTS-SAT or the Antalya agreement.

AKIpress, reporting the 30 March meeting of OTS space agency heads in Tashkent, said participants were working to finalise a space industrial agreement meant to streamline cooperation in space infrastructure, industrial manufacturing and emerging technologies, and that more than 170 students from member states had received training at the Turkic Space Explorers Academy. The secretariat's page on the working group meeting said the group had reviewed a draft document titled "Space Industrial Agreement for Capacity Development of Collaboration within the Organization of Turkic States", but did not say whether it was signed or adopted. The title of the document signed in Antalya differs, and none of the accounts says whether the two are the same text. The ministry page and the Astana Times also describe the document differently, as preliminary and as a framework.

No account gives a budget, a cost-sharing formula, a launch provider or the location of ground facilities. The items to track are:

• publication of the agreement's text and the list of signing agencies;
• a stated launch provider and date for OTS-SAT;
• whether other OTS members join the agreement.