Turkey to launch space trials for domestic rocket engines

Shafaq News/ Turkey will start space trials of its liquid-propellant rocket engines, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. 

“I would like to announce the start of the first space trials of domestically developed liquid-propellant rocket engine technology,” Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of Turkey’s leading defense company Roketsan’s production facility and research center in the capital Ankara.

“In particular, we never accept products from abroad that we can make in the country. We have brought our nearly paralyzed defense industry back to life,” he added.

Reliance on domestic resources for weapons and defense equipment production is one of the Erdogan government’s top priorities.

 On August 23, the Turkish president pledged that Turkey would become a major producer in the defense industry, as it would not import any of the sensitive products.

Turkey has launched several projects to produce armored vehicles, drones, as as combat aircraft and warships domestically.