Turkey is developing a sprawling rocket launch facility on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast that is publicly presented as a civilian spaceport for commercial satellite launches but is also emerging as a potential testing ground for the country’s expanding long-range ballistic missile arsenal, according to Turkish government documents, parliamentary testimony and reports on Ankara’s enhanced military hardware acquisition plans.
An examination of financial records published by the Turkish Space Agency (Türkiye Uzay Ajansı, TUA) reveals that the government allocated 2.1 billion Turkish lira, equivalent to approximately $42 million at November 2026 exchange rates, for transfer to the Defense Industry Support Fund under the country’s national space access and spaceport program.
The financial arrangement, disclosed in a footnote to the agency’s 2026 performance program, establishes an official connection between Turkey’s civilian space ambitions and the financial mechanism used to support its military and its defense industry. The documents do not specify how much of the allocation, if any, has been spent on the construction of the Somali facility or on missile-related infrastructure.
The project, estimated in media reports to cost approximately $350 million, is taking shape near the coastal town of Warsheikh, about 70 kilometers north of Mogadishu. The planned development covers an area reportedly measuring about 900 square kilometers, giving Turkey access to a substantial stretch of territory for launching rockets toward the Indian Ocean.
Its location is critical to both the civilian and potential military dimensions of the project. Somalia’s proximity to the equator offers advantages for putting satellites into orbit, while the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean provides a geographically convenient corridor for long-range missile trials, reducing the risk of rocket debris falling on densely populated areas or neighboring countries.
The clearest documentary indication of the project’s connection to the Turkish military appears in TUA’s official 2026 Performance Program, published on the agency’s website. The detail was buried in a footnote on page 23 that said an additional 2.1 billion lira was incorporated into the agency’s 2025 budget under the National Space Program’s Uzaya Erişim ve Uzay Limanı (Access to Space and Spaceport) activity.
The document specifies that the allocation was intended for transfer to the Savunma Sanayii Destekleme Fonu (Defense Industry Support Fund, SSDF), citing legislation published in the Official Gazette on July 24, 2025, issue No. 32965.
The fund is a vital financing instrument for Turkey’s military-industrial programs and is institutionally distinct from the Turkish Armed Forces’ operational budget. It supports the development and procurement of defense technologies, including strategically significant domestic capabilities.
The use of this financing mechanism for a program publicly promoted around satellite launches raises questions about the division of responsibilities between TUA and Turkey’s defense establishment, particularly the Presidency of the Defense Industry (SSB) which reports directly to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The same performance program puts TUA’s overall 2025 budget at approximately 4.58 billion lira, with a 2026 budget of 5.92 billion lira.
In his introduction to the program, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said the planned spaceport was intended to support Turkey’s independent access to space and strategic launches. The description reinforces the government’s emphasis on strategic autonomy, without defining the military or civilian status of individual future launches.
The connection between Turkey’s space ambitions and its military-industrial establishment predates the construction of the Somali facility. TUA’s 2022 Activity Report reveals that the agency began an extensive assessment in 2021 under the National Space Program to study future launch vehicles, payloads, orbital requirements and rocket launch facilities.
Four working groups were established to examine payloads, launch vehicles, innovative propulsion and component technologies and launch-base infrastructure. On February 22, 2022, TUA held a meeting to present the findings of its Independent Access to Space and Spaceport Analysis Report. Among the organizations invited were leading Turkish defense contractors Roketsan, ASELSAN, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ/TAI), STM and DeltaV, together with TÜBİTAK SAGE, TÜBİTAK UZAY, TÜRKSAT and other aerospace companies.
The agency said the resulting analysis was distributed to relevant stakeholders. It was kept confidential from public scrutiny.
The involvement of Roketsan is particularly significant. The company is a major developer of Turkish rocket and missile systems, including the Tayfun ballistic missile family. It also works on technologies intended to provide Turkey with independent satellite-launch capabilities.
TUA’s website identifies Roketsan as the contractor selected under a 2018 agreement with the Presidency of the Defense Industry for the Micro Satellite Launch System, known by its Turkish abbreviation MUFS. The program aims to develop the ability to put satellites weighing up to 100 kilograms into low Earth orbit at altitudes of at least 400 kilometers. It also envisages the development of domestic infrastructure for manufacturing, testing and launching space vehicles.
Although satellite-launch vehicles and ballistic missiles serve different purposes, some of their underlying technologies overlap, particularly rocket propulsion, structural materials, guidance and control and testing infrastructure. The overlap means that investment in satellite-launch technology can also strengthen the industrial capabilities needed for sophisticated missile systems.
Further evidence of the facility’s anticipated use by Turkish defense contractors emerged in December 2025 when Selçuk Bayraktar, chairman of drone manufacturer Baykar and son-in-law of President Erdogan, discussed the Somali project at a technology event in Istanbul.
Bayraktar said the state had begun construction of the launch facility and specifically identified Roketsan as a prospective user. He also said he hoped to use the site for launch vehicles developed by his own aerospace ventures. His remarks identified a direct prospective role for Roketsan at the Somali facility, going beyond its participation in the earlier feasibility studies.
The government provided a fresh confirmation of the project’s progress during a November 2, 2026, hearing of the Turkish Parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee. Presenting the Industry and Technology Ministry’s 2027 budget, Minister Kacır said the government was moving toward the capability to launch Turkish satellites using domestically developed rockets.
He specifically referred to construction of the Somali spaceport as a central element of this ambition. The minister said the facility would give Turkey independent access to space and enable it to obtain a larger share of the global space economy. He carefully avoided making any reference to the military aspect of the project. His remarks nevertheless confirmed that the Somali facility has advanced beyond an initial proposal and forms part of Turkey’s active national space strategy.
The Turkish government also has ambitions to deploy space-based systems that could support intelligence collection, communications and navigation, capabilities of obvious interest to the country’s military establishment.
Another potentially important development appears in a June 26, 2026, announcement published by TUA. The agency disclosed that it had hosted a meeting involving the ambassadors of Somalia and Qatar in Ankara to discuss cooperation in space-related activities.
The Somali ambassador, Fathudin Ali Mohamed, and Qatari Ambassador Faisal bin Abdulla Al-Henzab attended the meeting, which focused on access to space, space systems, opportunities for cooperation and regional partnerships. According to the agency, participants also considered ways to strengthen exchanges of knowledge, experience and technology.
source:nordicmonitor.com
