Geraldine Naja, Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency, said that Turkey’s development of a launch vehicle and a hybrid propulsion engine demonstrates the growing importance of space to the country. She discussed Europe’s drive to reduce launch costs and develop reusable vehicles to support access to low Earth orbit and future lunar missions.
Geraldine Naja, Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency (ESA), believes that Turkey’s development of its own launch vehicle, along with its work on hybrid propulsion systems and other technologies, is a clear indicator of the importance of the space sector to the country.
Naja made the remarks in an interview with Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress, organized by the International Astronautical Federation in Antalya, where she discussed the future of space transportation and potential cooperation between ESA and the Turkish industrial sector.
From Rockets to an Integrated Transportation Infrastructure
Naja said that space transportation no longer relies on rockets alone, but is moving toward a system that includes tug vehicles and multiple technologies connecting Earth to low Earth orbit, with the possibility of expanding this infrastructure toward the Moon in the future.
She explained that ESA is working to establish an integrated infrastructure for transporting payloads, which could later develop into systems capable of transporting crew members. These efforts include studying the transportation requirements needed for lunar missions, along with work on the shared infrastructure between systems for reaching low Earth orbit.
Integration of European Programs and the Private Sector
Naja noted that Europe has the Ariane 6 and Vega C launch vehicles, developed by ESA and providing an independent means of access to space. At the same time, the agency is seeking to reduce launch costs through the European Launcher Challenge initiative, which supports new launch vehicles developed by the private sector.
Naja mentioned the Spectrum vehicle, developed by a German company, as an example of these efforts. According to her assessment, these programs do not necessarily compete for the same role; established, operational vehicles complement new commercial solutions that could offer greater flexibility in the future.
Reusability Becomes a Priority
Naja described reusability as “the technology of the future,” explaining that the lower launch frequency at the time the decision was made to develop Ariane 6 did not justify investing in this option then. But she said that the need for reusable launch vehicles has now become clear in Europe.
ESA is pursuing this direction through the Prometheus and Themis projects, with Naja emphasizing the need to strengthen European efforts in this field. This point reveals a practical shift in the calculations of the launch sector: growing demand for flights and cost reduction make reusability a more important factor in designing future systems.
What Is Changing in Practice?
The discussion does not include an announcement of a specific agreement or a timeline for a joint project between ESA and Turkey. However, the remarks place Turkey’s launch program within a broader European context that brings together existing institutional capabilities, private launch companies, and the development of propulsion and reusability technologies. As for the scale of industrial cooperation that could take shape between Turkey and ESA, it remains open and was not specified in the article with implementation details.