Turkish firm Fergani Space’s fully homegrown orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), the FGN-TUG-S01, began its mission in space, according to a recent statement.

Türkiye’s first orbital transfer vehicle was launched on November 28 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter 15.

The mission began at 18:44 GMT and concluded with the successful payload separation, as the vehicle was separated from the rocket 81 minutes after the launch.

This mission marked a key step in Fergani Space’s transportation and space manoeuvring capabilities.

Türkiye’s first homegrown space tug features the world’s first hybrid rocket engine to be fired in orbit. The craft will perform its first planned hybrid engine firing after settling into its mission orbit.

The FGN-TUG-S01’s low-cost and safe hybrid propulsion system will enable satellites to be transported to different orbits and extend their mission lifetimes.

The craft’s success will mark a new milestone in Fergani Space’s future constellation missions. These missions will involve placing satellites at different altitudes.

Türkiye’s first homegrown OTV will transport Fergani satellites from a low orbit of around 500 kilometres to higher altitudes at over 1,000 kilometres to position them in their mission orbits.

The craft features critical systems such as the flight computer, avionics, power distribution units, and thermal control infrastructure, all of which were developed domestically at Fergani Space.

Türkiye will become the first country to conduct hybrid engine tests in orbit with this vehicle.

Selcuk Bayraktar, CEO of Fergani Space, said in a statement on Tuesday that the firm launched its second satellite into service three weeks ago and that the country’s first homegrown orbital transfer vehicle is now operational.

“Our OTV, a product of domestic engineering, will initiate Türkiye’s mobility in space,” he said.

Bayraktar mentioned that the mission will be a baseline of the critical infrastructure on which Türkiye’s domestic global positioning system (GPS), named “Ulugbey,” will be developed.

“This mission will form the base for our Ulugbey GPS goal and pave the way for our future satellite constellations,” he said. “We aim to provide independent positioning and space logistics capabilities to Türkiye and its allied countries with more than 100 satellites in five years.”