"A planned ASTRALINK constellation of 198 interconnected satellites would serve Türkiye and allied countries," ASELSAN chief executive Ahmet Akyol said in remarks published on 6 October 2026.
What ASELSAN is proposing: ASTRALINK / GÖKBAĞI
ASELSAN has disclosed plans for ASTRALINK — the international name for a system called GÖKBAĞI in Türkiye — a low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of 198 interconnected satellites. The company presented the network as part of its LEO Satellites and Military 5G/6G Communications System Project at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Antalya, saying the system is intended to deliver secure, high-capacity communications beyond terrestrial line of sight, with low latency and uninterrupted connectivity.
Schedule and manufacturing targets
ASELSAN set a public timetable for the program’s opening milestone: the first spacecraft in the proposed network is targeted for launch within two years of its 6 October 2026 remarks. The company described a scalable manufacturing target of up to four spacecraft per month to support expansion and longer-term development, presenting the monthly output figure as a target rather than a committed cadence. ASELSAN traced active constellation development work to late 2025 and said it has invested in a new campus for space production.
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ASELSAN said the constellation will be integrated with a military 5G/6G core and that the space and terrestrial components would operate under common management through integration with ASELSAN’s communications infrastructure. The company is developing both spacecraft and receiving equipment as parts of a single communications system, and it plans ASELSAN-developed waveforms, domestic chips and subsystems made with local suppliers. Ground terminals are planned to include electronically steered antennas using active electronically scanned arrays to track satellites without mechanical movement.
Fielded base, customers, and program lineage
Akyol told the IAC audience that ASELSAN’s wider communications infrastructure already included more than one million user terminals — equipment the company reports as being in the field — and that ASTRALINK/GÖKBAĞI’s intended users include military, government and civilian customers who need communications beyond the coverage of conventional terrestrial networks. The October disclosures follow a sequence of public steps earlier in 2026: public discussion began in February, a contract was signed at SAHA 2026, and a project-opening meeting was held at ASELSAN’s Macunköy Technology Base. A July announcement had described the architecture and functions but had not disclosed the number of satellites or the fielding schedule.
Ties to prior satellite and radar work
At IAC, ASELSAN displayed satellite hardware alongside communications payloads and ground receivers and highlighted ongoing engineering work. The company pointed to its TÜRKSAT-6A communications payload work and engineering activities directed toward TÜRKSAT-7A. ASELSAN also cited work on the GÖKTÜRK-3 radar satellite program, including development of the synthetic-aperture imaging radar, secure data communications and the main security unit. ASELSAN noted that its satellite-communications activity began with ground and user systems in the early 2000s and later expanded to space electronics, payloads, platforms and control infrastructure; in the TÜRKSAT-6A prototype development reported in August 2017, ASELSAN worked alongside the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK), Turkish Aerospace and CTECH.
How military users, government agencies, and civilian customers are affected
- Military users: ASTRALINK/GÖKBAĞI is presented as a component of a military 5G/6G core and as meeting secure beyond-line-of-sight communications needs that terrestrial networks cannot cover.
- Government agencies: ASELSAN frames the system for government use alongside military and civilian customers, integrating space and terrestrial networks under common management with ASELSAN’s existing infrastructure.
- Civilian customers: ASELSAN included civilian users among intended beneficiaries, noting more than one million user terminals already in the field as part of its broader communications footprint.
ASELSAN has laid out a program that combines a large LEO constellation, a domestic supply emphasis, and an integrated space–terrestrial management model — and it has given two concrete schedule and capacity markers: the first satellite targeted for launch within two years, and a scalable manufacturing target of up to four spacecraft per month. Those figures will be the near-term metrics to watch as ASELSAN moves from display and declaration at the IAC toward actual launches and production ramp-up.
Source: Quwa — ASELSAN Sets Out 198-Satellite ASTRALINK Communications Plan
