The Turkish Space Agency was first founded in 2018. In 2021, President Erdogan announced a 10-year plan for the agency with objectives like developing domestic satellites and landing on the Moon independently by 2028. In January 2024, Turkish astronauts arrived in space for the first time on a SpaceX rocket and in December 2024, the government began work on a spaceport in Somalia, a project estimated to cost $350m. The Turkish government has also confirmed its wishes to use the spaceport as a missile testing site for its booming defense industry.
NASA's Artemis program is an American Moon exploration program established in 2017 with the goal to reestablish human presence on the Moon. Turkey has also applied to the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a Chinese-Russian alternative to the Artemis program which similarly hopes to establish a permanent base on the moon.