SPACROL, an academic enterprise company established in METU Teknokent with the investment of TÜBİTAK BİGG, introduced SACSTOR, a localized satellite orientation simulator in the field of satellite test devices in Turkey, at the SAHA 2026 International Defense, Aviation and Space Industry Fair. SAHA 2026 International Defense, Aerospace Industry Fair, organized at Istanbul Expo Center with the organization of SAHA Istanbul, Turkey’s and Europe’s largest defense, aviation and space industry cluster, has started.
The event, held in partnership with the global communication partnership of Anadolu Agency (AA), will host its visitors at the Istanbul Expo Center until May 9. Suitable for effective use in high-precision center of gravity determination for complex systems such as satellites, rockets and UAVs, SACSTOR allows the integration of “Cube Satellites” with its rotation ability around 3 axes. While SPACROL aims to end Turkey’s foreign dependency in this field with the SACSTOR product it developed, the company’s R&D studies in the field of “actuator” and “sensor technologies” for the accessible space ecosystem continue with the support of TÜBİTAK.
The company also continues its R&D studies in the field of control software development and electromechanical system development. Local simulation and test infrastructure for satellites from SPACROL SPACROL Founder Mustafa Atakan Afşar, in his evaluation to the AA correspondent, said that SPACROL, which was established in partnership with TÜBİTAK BİGG, has a team specialized in electromechanical design, fluid mechanics design and control systems, and that they generally carry out studies on electromechanical systems.
Afşar explained that the SACSTOR products they introduced at the fair are basically a device used to simulate the orientation movements of satellites in space on the earth. Emphasizing that thanks to the device they developed, satellites can remain suspended in the air on Earth in a manner similar to space conditions, Afşar said, “Of course, it would not be right to limit the use of our product only to satellites. SACSTOR is also a device that can be used to precisely determine the center of gravity of complex electromechanical systems such as rockets and UAVs.” he said.
Afşar stated that thanks to the balancing mechanism systems on the device, they also offer the opportunity to test 3U and 6U size satellites directly integrated into the system. Emphasizing that their main goal is to contribute to Turkey’s “accessible space ecosystem”, Afşar noted that their products offer an infrastructure that enables this. Pointing out that especially new startups have difficulty in performing some tests, Afşar said, “Therefore, sending orientation systems to space after testing them on Earth will contribute to the R&D expenses of companies.
In this sense, we can say that our product is a cost-effective product.” he said. Afşar also touched upon Turkey’s need for trained human resources in the fields of aerospace engineering and stated that the increase in these departments, especially recently, is the most basic indicator of this. Emphasizing that they want to help these studies in the academic field, Afşar explained that they continue to work effectively both on the private sector and the academic side.
Localization and critical technology target in the space ecosystem Afşar underlined that they set out with the aim of contributing to the space ecosystem in Turkey and concluded his words as follows: “SACSTOR is actually a very niche product and the first product made in this field in Turkey. It contains different technologies. Similarly, the ‘Spherical Air Bearing’ that we have developed is also a technology developed by different countries.
In this context, SACSTOR has actually become the first localized product in Turkey and we are proud of it. As I just mentioned, we want to contribute to the space ecosystem and the most “Our main goal is accessible space. The Turkish Space Agency and TÜBİTAK Space have actually prepared a cube satellite road map. The space field is a challenging sector, especially in Turkey. You do not have many competitors, but we have actually developed an infrastructure for our company.
Our main goal from now on is to develop critical technologies such as sensors and actuators and bring them to Turkey. Our TÜBİTAK-supported projects continue.” Source: AA
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