Ahead of the Antalya congress, Roketsan chief executive Murat İkinci said Şimşek 1 aims to place a 400 kg payload in a 500 km orbit, while Şimşek 2, contracted last year, is designed to carry 1.5 tonnes to orbits of up to 700 km and to be sold commercially. Roketsan has flown sounding rockets since 2016. Our take: a national launcher is what turns satellite-building into a full space programme; the date of the first orbital flight is the number to wait for.