Science

IMECE

Turkish Domestic High-Resolution Earth Observation Satellite · TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (Turkey)

İMECE, Turkey's first fully domestically developed high-resolution Earth observation satellite, launched April 15, 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter-7 rideshare mission. Built entirely in-house by TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute — including its electro-optical camera, flight computer, star trackers, reaction wheels, and electric propulsion system — İMECE delivers sub-meter panchromatic imagery from a 425-mile sun-synchronous orbit, imaging a swath 10 miles wide and up to 620 miles long in a single pass at 320 Mbps downlink speed. President Erdoğan called it proof Turkey could design, build, and test an advanced imaging satellite without foreign dependency; the country has since begun work on IMECE-2 and IMECE-3, a next-generation cluster planned to work together in orbit from 2027.