Turksat
Turkey had hoped to emulate Thailand by quickly launching two GEO communications satellites to form an "instant" network. Unfortunately, Turksat 1A was lost on 24 January 1994 in an Ariane accident. Turksat 1B fared much better after its launch on 10 August of the same year and was successfully positioned at 42 degrees E. The spacecraft is based on the Aerospatiale Spacebus 2000 series with an on-orbit mass of slightly more than one metric ton. The communications payload consists of 16 Ku-band transponders with an expected operational life of 10 years or more. A contract for Turksat 1C to replace Turksat 1A was signed with Aerospatiale in 1994 and was succesfully launched in 1996. (References 404-406).
