Photo of the scale model of the Türksat 4A satellite.

[SatNews] A scale model of a "Turksat-4A" communication satellite produced by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric was delivered to the Turkish space company Turksat—the model was displayed after a handover ceremony that was attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Mitsubishi's Kamakura plant in Kamakura, in suburban Tokyo, on January 8, 2014.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan attended a delivery ceremony of the TÜRKSAT 4A satellite that was co-produced by Turkish and Japanese engineers in Tokyo. As part of his official tour, Turkish Prime Minister visited the satellite production center of the Mitsubishi Electric Company located in Tokyo, where the two satellites TÜRKSAT 4A and 4B were produced. ErdoÄŸan, in his speech at the center, stated that the project was a concrete indicator of the joint achievement of both countries in aerospace studies, aviation, science and technology. The satellite will enable Türksat to offer telecommunication and TV broadcasting services throughout Turkey, as well as in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the company official said.

The Turkish prime minister confirmed that the satellite will be sent to the launch base in Kazakhstan and will be launched with a proton rocket on Feb. 15. He added that they have been planning to launch the second one (TÜRKSAT 4B) in the second quarter of 2014 after its test period completes. He said that this satellite would also provide television broadcast and satellite communication systems for the African continent.

(Source: Hürryetdailynews.com)