“Turkey's first orbital transfer vehicle developed by Selçuk Bayraktar's space company Fergani was sent to space.”
God speed!
*couldn’t find it at Fergani’s X account for some reason.
Here is a news about it from last month.
tolgaozbek.com
Fergani’s Orbital Transfer Vehicle to Be Launched in November
Fergani Space, the company owned by Baykar Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar, will launch its orbital transfer vehicle next November. This vehicle will change satellites’ orbits and extend their service lives by refueling them in space.
Arif Karabeyoğlu, a member of the board of the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and an advisor at Fergani Space, stated that this will be a world first. He emphasized that the system will bring a new perspective to satellite technologies.
The World’s First Hybrid-Based Orbital Satellite Transport Vehicle
Speaking to Taha Hüseyin Karagöz’s channel at the Space Congress held in Australia, Karabeyoğlu said:
“In a month, we are sending into space the world’s first hybrid-based orbital satellite transport vehicle on a rocket launched from California, USA.
The orbital transfer vehicle moves a satellite to another orbit. It is like a van.
In-space transportation is extremely critical. The world is moving in this direction.
If you can move inside space, you can move your satellites to different orbits, refuel them, and provide maintenance.”
What Is an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV)?
With the rise of the New Space approach and decreasing launch costs, the number of satellites in orbit has increased rapidly, and the need for transferring satellites between orbits has grown significantly.
Traditional launch systems place tons of payloads into predetermined orbits.
Without an OTV solution, the orbit planned by the satellite operator often does not match the orbit offered by the launch provider.
In such a case, the satellite operator must either:
- wait for a launch opportunity that matches their desired orbit, or
- make a separate agreement with a launch company and pay the full cost of a dedicated launch.
Either way, the operator faces
significant time loss or
very high costs.
Transported with the OTV
With the OTV solution Fergani will offer, the satellite operator will be able to join any launch program as a
secondary payload, regardless of the target orbit — as long as the launch date matches their schedule.
After reaching space, the satellite will then move to its own target orbit using the OTV.
Thanks to the logistical space operations Fergani will provide, the satellite operator will gain a major advantage in the highly competitive space industry.
Since Fergani’s OTV system enables movement within space, it will greatly increase the operational capabilities of the satellite.
In short, Fergani’s cost-effective OTV applications offer an innovative and unique high-technology solution capable of performing all maneuvers a satellite may need from the very beginning to the very end of its commercial life in space — ultimately increasing the satellite’s efficiency.