Türkiye plans over 60 Moon missions in next decade

ANKARA

Türkiye plans to conduct more than 60 scientific missions on the Moon over the next decade as part of its efforts to secure a larger role in global lunar research. The country’s lunar program involves the development of high-tech products to measure radiation, image the Moon’s surface, and investigate the origin of water on the lunar surface.

The Earth-Moon economy, driven by major players in lunar exploration, is expected to reach a cumulative value of $150 billion by 2040, according to data compiled by Anadolu.

NASA-led initiatives, including Gateway, the International Laser Ranging Service, and Artemis, are working to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon.

These programs aim to turn the Moon into a refueling station, using space resources to support deep-space exploration.

Under its National Space Program, Türkiye is preparing for its first lunar mission by 2028. The country aims to become a leading player in lunar research by reaching the Earth’s satellite onboard a domestically produced spacecraft with a homegrown propulsion system.

Türkiye’s lunar program includes the development of a range of technologies, such as a lunar telescope, a narrow-field radiometer, radiation dosimeters, calorimeters, and high-resolution cameras for surveying and imaging the Moon’s surface.

The program’s objectives include determining the origin of water on the Moon’s surface, studying the structure of magnetospheres, analyzing temperature distribution on the lunar surface, and assessing radiation levels both on the Moon and in Earth’s orbit.

Through its National Space Program, Türkiye is positioning itself to contribute to the rapidly expanding global space and lunar economy.

Three main areas shape the lunar economy: transportation to the Moon, data collection from the Earth’s satellite, and resource assessment. Türkiye can contribute to these areas with its own capabilities and ecosystem.

Achieving this goal involves many industries beyond just the space sector. Sectors including automotive, construction, robotics, communications, mining, healthcare, and transportation also contribute greatly to the lunar economy.

- Ever-growing lunar economy

The lunar transportation market is expected to reach $79 billion by 2040. This includes the development of launch systems, orbital transportation, and surface landing systems, as well as operations support and mission data processing.

Key components of this market involve satellites, landing gear, surface exploration vehicles, landing and navigation systems, spacecraft operations, communications, data transfer, and mission data processing.

The market for lunar data generation, which covers production, transportation, remote and on-site exploration, pre-processing, storage, transmission, and analysis, is projected to total $8.3 billion by 2040.

Additionally, the exploration, extraction, transportation, refining, production, and supply of lunar resources is estimated to reach a market size of $64 billion by 2040.