Türksat's deals span satellites, a data centre and China, few terms public

Türksat signed a protocol with China Satcom on 8 October to develop satellite technologies jointly, Anadolu reported, the latest in a run of announcements that has taken the Turkish operator beyond its traditional business of leasing capacity on its own spacecraft.

Read side by side, Türksat's own releases from March to July and Anadolu's account of the October protocol show a wider remit and few disclosed terms: none gives an investment amount, and the satellite agreements give no launch dates or capacity splits.

The four moves

• China, 8 October: Anadolu reported that Selman Demirel, deputy general manager for satellite services, and China Satcom's chief executive Ma Haiquan signed a "comprehensive protocol" at the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Antalya. It covers UAV communication systems, satellite-based IoT and smart border security, with a joint steering committee that meets every three months. The report gives no values or delivery dates. It extends an October 2025 pair of cooperation agreements, one with Chinasat Communication, whose chief executive was also Ma Haiquan, covering in-flight internet, maritime and disaster communications.
• Qatar, 30 June: Türksat and Es'hailSat agreed a strategic partnership for Es'hail-3/Türksat-Biruni, a high-throughput Ka-band satellite at 50 degrees East, targeting the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The release gives no capacity split, investment amount or launch date.
• Data centre, 23 July: At the Gölbaşı foundation-stone ceremony, Türksat said the campus will have 33 MVA of installed power, 6,300 square metres of white space and six system halls, with phase one planned for the first quarter of 2028. Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said "we are establishing data sovereignty on our own soil". The release states no investment figure.
• Türksat 7A, 29 April: General Manager Ahmet Hamdi Atalay said production of the satellite is expected to begin in 2026, following Türksat 6A, without naming a manufacturer, orbit or capacity.

Reading the gaps

The data centre figure needs care. MVA measures apparent power and MW real power, so 33 MVA cannot be read as 33 MW without a power factor that Türksat does not state. The company has also described the capacity gain in different terms: Uraloğlu said physical capacity would rise threefold in phase one and more than eightfold in phase two, while Türksat chairman Mücahit Arman said current capacity would rise eightfold on completion, according to the release. The base for those multiples is not given. In December 2025 Atalay said the tender was in its final stage and that construction would begin in 2026; the foundation stone was laid on 23 July.

For satellites, the same December interview said Türksat 7A would replace Türksat 3A, which completed its design life in 2023, at 42 degrees East no later than 2030. That is the only dated target among the satellite programmes. Es'hail-3/Türksat-Biruni has none. The Qatar release says Es'hailSat is wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority and that the partners will combine satellite assets, ground infrastructure, distribution networks and customer relationships, so the project pairs Türkiye's national operator with a Qatari state-owned one.

Central Asia

Central Asia appears as a market, not yet as a contracted customer base. The Es'hail-3 release names it as a target region. At the Space Technology Conference in Tashkent on 31 March, Türksat's delegation met, among others, Tajikistan's Digital Development and Satellite Communications Centre, and the release reported consensus but no signed agreements. The Gölbaşı release says the data centre is also meant to serve neighbouring and Turkic countries as a regional hub, without naming any customer.

The test is whether any of the four moves produces a contract with a stated value or a delivery date. Until then, the agreements show direction rather than commitments.