First Turkish Satellite Navigation Station Opens In Antarctica - Technology Minister

First Turkish Satellite Navigation Station Opens in Antarctica - Technology Minister

Turkish specialists have opened a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) base station in Antarctica, Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2020) Turkish specialists have opened a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) base station in Antarctica, Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Friday.

A 24-member research team arrived in the region earlier this week to join 15 scientific projects. This is the fourth polar expedition by Ankara since 2016. The expedition is being conducted under the auspices of the Turkish Presidential Administration and the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and coordinated by the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council.

"A GNSS satellite navigation base station was set up within the framework of the fourth Turkish scientific expedition to Antarctica. A group of specialists from the Turkish General Directorate of Mapping has built Turkey's first GNSS base station abroad," Varank said, as quoted by the national Anadolu news agency.

The station operates on Dismal Island, 73 kilometers (45 miles) from Horseshoe Island, where the temporary Turkish science base is located.

The GNSS station can track changes in the location of icebergs and transmit photos of Antarctica's surface, as well as can process data from such global navigation systems as GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO.