On December the 5^th 2016, the Göktürk-1 satellite designed to perform Earth Observation for Turkey, took-off from Kourou (French Guyana) on board Arianespace´s VEGA launcher (VV08). Göktürk-1 will now be monitoring our planet and especially Turkey with the help of a sophisticated optical payload. This spacecraft is the second in a fleet of three different vehicles (Göktürk-1 & -2 and RASAT) aimed at better mapping and protecting Turkey.

With the successful activation of the two Ball Latch Valves (BLV) from Omnidea-RTG, the priming of the propulsion sub-system with N₂H₄ propellant could be performed. The Ball Latch Valve design has already gained flight heritage since the launch of the five German SAR-Lupe satellites with this heritage being increased with the launch of Sentinel-3A (Feb. 2016). As two units exist per satellite, a total of 14 BLVs are now performing their duty in orbit.

With its capability to perform repeated opening and closing, without performance degradation throughout the entire lifetime of the spacecraft, our valves present a welcome alternative to standard pyrovalves also used in spacecrafts.

We would like to congratulate the Turkish Ministry of Defence, Turkish Aerospace Industries, Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio on the successful launch and future exploration campaign and thank them for the continued trust they have shown in our capabilities.