The satellite with 0.80 m (2 ft 7 in) resolution is intended for use of reconnaissance over any location on Earth without geographical restriction. Additionally, it will carry out various civil applications on mapping and planning, landcover survey, geology, ecosystem monitoring, disaster management, environmental control, coastal zone management, and water resources.[3][4]
Israel started a pressure campaign on the French company Thales Group, which is one of the shareholders of Telespazio. Israel expressed its fear that the high resolution imagery taken by Göktürk-1 over its territory could eventually fall into the wrong hands. Israel, which supplies some of the critical electro-optical parts of the satellite's high-technology camera system to Thales Group, stipulated that Göktürk-1 should be made incapable of taking imagery as long as it is over Israel.[5]
Turkey, after having received such information, demanded from the contractor Thales Group that it has to prove the satellite can take imagery from any location desired. The French producer initially rejected this demand, but later decided to accept it, after the Turkish government responded by stopping the payments.[5]
Turkish bureaucrats also requested the launch of the satellite to be made by an experienced and well-known space company. Thales Group, on the other hand, originally proposed to commission a launch company without too much experience in order to cut the costs.[5]
After numerous delays due to political and business disputes, which were finally solved, the satellite was launched from the Guiana Space Center at 13:51:44 UTC, on 5 December 2016, on flight VV08 of the European Space Agency's Vega rocket.[1]
Four years earlier, Göktürk-2, another Earth observation satellite of the Göktürk series (however with lower resolution compared to Göktürk-1) was successfully placed in orbit on December 18, 2012.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
