Turkiye’s mini satellite Grizu-263A sends 1st signals

Turkiye’s first mini satellite successfully emitted its first signals, its developer said late Thursday

Turkiye’s first mini satellite successfully emitted its first signals, its developer said late Thursday, Qazet.az reports citing Anadolu.

"The first signals were successfully received from our satellite Grizu-263A. Our satellite is alive!!!” Grizu-263 Space Team said on Twitter.

"Pride. We designed, manufactured, tested and launched into space. Now our satellite, Grizu-263A, is on its duty safe and sound," space team captain Cagla Aytac Dursun said in a tweet.

Grizu-263A was launched into space Thursday on US aerospace company SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida.

Established in 2016 by engineering students from Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University in northern Turkiye, the Grizu-263 Space Team aims to work on space and satellite technologies and participate in international competitions.

The team was named after a firedamp explosion that killed 263 miners in Kozlu district in 1992. The Turkish word for firedamp is grizu.

The satellite is designed to operate in a low-Earth orbit of roughly 525 kilometers (326 miles) for four years and eight months.