Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır announced that Türkiye would send a lunar vehicle equipped with a homegrown hybrid rocket propulsion system into space in the first months of 2027.
Kacır made the announcement while attending the 28th Sky Observation Event in Afyonkarahisar. Saying that space had an important place in Türkiye's national technology drive, Kacır said space technologies were creating strategic infrastructure for many critical fields, particularly the defense industry.
Tests for the lunar vehicle completed
Kacır said Türkiye was continuing deep-space exploration projects under its National Space Program and stated that its engineers and scientists had developed a lunar vehicle equipped with a homegrown hybrid rocket propulsion system.
Kacır said the launch schedule had been finalized and all tests had been successfully completed. He noted that implementing the plan would give Türkiye a technological capability that only a small number of countries in the world had been able to develop.
Lunar vehicles are designed to land on the Moon's surface, move across it or conduct scientific exploration. They can be used as landers carrying people or equipment, or as rovers examining challenging surfaces.

Spaceport project in Somalia
Emphasizing that independent access to space was a strategic goal for Türkiye, Kacır said the country had significant capabilities in rocket and missile technologies.
Kacır said Türkiye was moving step by step toward the stage of producing rockets that would enable it to send its satellites into space using its own resources, adding that having spaceport infrastructure was also among the country's priorities.