Türkiye joined the Artemis Accords on August 31, 2026, becoming the 71st signatory country in activities concerning the Moon and deep space. The membership establishes a new institutional framework for Türkiye in terms of interoperability principles, joint operations and the future governance of space.
At the signing ceremony, NASA called on the countries party to the accords to contribute hardware and scientific payloads to the permanent infrastructure planned for the lunar surface. Turning this call into concrete missions will depend on programmatic and commercial arrangements concerning contract details, technology transfer and the division of mission responsibilities.
The changing criteria of space diplomacy
Elif Yüksel, a specialist in international space policy and space diplomacy, says success in space diplomacy is not determined solely by the ability to reach orbit. The key criterion is the ability to translate that capacity into scientific, economic, industrial and diplomatic outcomes.
Security, the space economy, the governance of space as a common domain and exploration programs were assessed together at the International Space Summit held in Paris on September 9-10. According to the framework published by France, the summit brought together approximately 120 foreign delegations, which addressed these issues not as independent topics but as parts of the same system.
This framework argues that strategic autonomy and international cooperation are not alternatives to each other. The cancellations of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space and Starcloud before the summit also brought the competition and governance dimensions of space cooperation to the fore.
Türkiye’s existing space capabilities
Türkiye’s accumulated experience in space dates back to TÜRKSAT 1B, launched in 1994. Earth-observation satellite activities, which began with BİLSAT’s work in 2003 and continued with RASAT in 2011 and GÖKTÜRK-2 in 2012, formed the foundation of this capability.
The establishment of the Turkish Space Agency in 2018, followed by the announcement of the National Space Program and the National Space Strategy Document, strengthened the treatment of space as a state policy. Türkiye currently operates nine active public satellites.
With TÜRKSAT 6A, Türkiye joined the 11 countries capable of designing and manufacturing communications satellites. Through İMECE, it placed into orbit an Earth-observation satellite with sub-meter resolution and domestic optics. ASELSAN’s LUNA-1 and LUNA-2 satellites also represent efforts to develop space-based Internet of Things capabilities.
The Space Command, established within the Turkish Air Force in 2024, aims to improve civilian-military coordination as well as alignment with NATO space frameworks. Satellite fleets expanded by Fergani Space and Plan-S demonstrate the growing weight of the private sector and entrepreneurial companies in the ecosystem.
In propulsion technology, DeltaV’s hybrid rocket system reached an altitude of more than 200 kilometers in June 2025. The Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard, sent into orbit in July 2026, has also begun testing in the space environment as part of the Regional Positioning and Timing System objective.
The planned spaceport in Somalia is associated with Türkiye’s goal of independent access to space. The election of Turkish Space Agency President Yusuf Kıraç as chair of the council of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization is also among the developments giving institutional visibility to Türkiye’s accumulated space expertise.
During the first planned phase of the Turkish Lunar Mission, a hard landing on the lunar surface is targeted for the first months of 2027. This objective points to the potential for Türkiye’s participation in the Artemis Accords to carry its technical capabilities into an international cooperation framework.
Seeking concrete contributions after the signing
Türkiye’s participation in the Artemis Accords increases its visibility in space, but the signature alone does not create international influence. Lasting impact will require scientific contributions, industrial integration, regulatory alignment, human resources, economic and social outcomes, and governance efforts to advance together.
Türkiye’s flight-proven systems provide a foundation for technical contributions. The TstarG-100 platform used in TÜRKSAT 6A entered service in April 2025. A satellite-cluster architecture covering İMECE-2 and İMECE-3 is also being developed on the basis of this experience.
Infrastructure for star trackers, reaction wheels and electro-optical cameras, as well as a facility for Hall-effect thrusters, has also been commissioned. The SSS-2B 3U CubeSat, developed in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, is considered one example showing that domestic engineering can work to international standards during the design and integration phases.
Türkiye is also continuing efforts to integrate foreign scientific instruments into its own missions. The Lunar Neutrals Telescope, developed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, is planned to fly on a lunar mission.
Measures of industrial integration include Turkish companies joining international supply chains, universities participating in joint programs and domestic technologies being applied at the mission level. Clarifying licensing and data-sharing procedures is important to making industrial participation lasting.
In terms of governance, participation in the Artemis framework needs to proceed alongside the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and national policy development. Interinstitutional and interdisciplinary coordination will be decisive in turning technical and scientific gains into sustainable diplomatic influence.
A coordination model for space diplomacy
The proposed task-force model envisions training experts able to connect space science, technology, engineering and economics with law, security and international relations. If such a model is established, it could be incorporated into a coordination mechanism similar to a National Space Council.
This approach proposes investing in areas of expertise capable of addressing civilian, military and commercial space activities within the same framework. Experts who could serve as space attachés and undersecretaries are intended to carry technical capacity into international negotiation and governance processes.
The Antalya Declaration is planned to be issued at a meeting attended by parliamentarians and government representatives ahead of the 2026 International Astronautical Congress. The declaration, which is intended to carry messages of peace, security and stability, stands out as a platform where Türkiye is preparing to propose new mechanisms beyond existing governance frameworks.
For Türkiye, the success of the Artemis Accords will be measured by the concrete outcomes the signature produces in the scientific, industrial, social, economic, security and diplomatic fields.
