Türkiye's crewed space journey marks historic milestone, says Turkish communications director

Türkiye's first crewed space journey "will be a milestone for the work we are doing in the Space Homeland and will carry out in the future," the Turkish communications director said on Thursday.

"We take pride in experiencing the effort-filled story of the Türkiye Century reaching into space, realizing another dream that has been anticipated for years to come true," Fahrettin Altun said on X about the historic mission, which is due to take off from the US state of Florida within hours.

"Türkiye is witnessing a historic moment," he added.

On the Turkish Air Force pilot going into space on the mission, Altun said: "I extend my best wishes for success to our country's first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, who has undertaken this invaluable mission in the field of science and space exploration."

He added: "This journey, coordinated under the leadership of our President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and in cooperation with our Ministry of Industry and Technology and the Presidency of the Turkish Space Agency, holds great significance in the realms of science and space exploration."

Earlier Thursday, private space exploration firm SpaceX said on X: "All systems are looking good for today's launch of Ax-3. Liftoff is targeted for 4:49 p.m. ET (2149GMT), and weather is 80% favorable for liftoff." The liftoff time in Türkiye is Friday at 12.49 a.m.