Turkey Joins Lunar Race With First Muslim Nation Spacecraft

Turkey has completed the production and assembly of its first lunar spacecraft, AYAP-1, and is now conducting final tests. The 3.5-ton module is slated for launch in early 2027 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the destination being the Moon.

The journey to lunar orbit is expected to take approximately two months. Upon arrival, AYAP-1 will embark on a three-month scientific mission. This phase will involve studying the interaction of solar wind with the lunar surface, the processes of water formation, magnetic fields, and the radiation environment.

The mission's final stage will involve a controlled, hard landing on the Moon's surface. If successful, Turkey will become the ninth country globally and the first Muslim-majority nation to send a spacecraft to the Moon.

This endeavor follows previous attempts by two other regional nations. Israel's "Beresheet" private lunar lander crashed in 2019 during its attempted soft landing after successfully reaching lunar orbit. The United Arab Emirates' "Rashid" rover, launched in 2023 as part of a Japanese Hakuto-R mission, failed to reach the surface when the Japanese lander crashed.

Turkey's next project, AYAP-2, aims for a soft landing and the deployment of a research rover.