Both China and the West have had their spy satellites hone in on a particular section of Somalia’s coastline in recent weeks. It appears to be the construction site of a Turkish space base, the location of which Ankara has been keeping secret.
Intelligence Online has noted an unprecedented flurry of activity from US firm Maxar‘s WorldView Legion satellites, French group Airbus Defence and Space‘s Pléiades Néo constellation and even Chinese group Changguang Satellite Technology‘s Jilin-1 intelligence satellite over two very specific spots of the Somalian coastline. Given the frequency of the images taken, they clearly are interested in keeping track of what is happening on the ground.
From our analysis, one site, on the Kismaayo coast, is a logistics base, while the second, southeast of that site in the Jamaame dunes, appears to be where Turkey is building its space base, a project announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in November. The Somalian authorities confirmed the announcement several weeks later but did not provide any detail about where or when the spaceport would be built. It seems that others have now found that out for themselves.
In need of satellites and ballistic missiles
From information published prior to Turkey’s talks with Somalia, Ankara had indicated it wanted an autonomous space launch site near the equator and that given Somalia’s opening towards the Indian Ocean, it was a good location for such a base. Italy plans to reopen its former base in Kenya for the same reasons, and Saudi Arabia is interested in Oman’s Duqm base (IO, 28/05/24).
Yet, Turkey and its ambitious defence industry is not just looking for a satellite launch station. It also is searching for the right spot for a long-range missile testing centre. Turkey’s geographical configuration makes these tests complex – and visible to prying eyes – as they head either into the Mediterranean or the Black Sea.
