Why Turkey is building a space base in Somalia

hattip to Ms Cat for bringing this to my attention- And you better believe Israel is very, very, very unhappy about this.

LeMonde– small excerpt. When I can, I’ll cover this topic a bit more indepth

Since October 2025, Turkey has quietly launched an extraordinary project in central Somalia. Warsheikh, a city on the edge of the Indian Ocean, 70 kilometers north of Mogadishu, will host the future flagship of the Turkish space program: a satellite launch base that will be doubled by a ballistic test site for the missile tests of Ankara’s powerful defense industry.

If it has formalized it in December 2025, the Turkish government has been working for several years on this project, the cost of which is estimated at 350 million dollars (218 million euros). “For Ankara, it is a strategic infrastructure, which will allow it to access space autonomously and strengthen its position in the global space economy,” said Arda Mevlütoglu, director at the Turkish-based consulting firm Mergen Analytical Strategies. With this base, Turkey will become the thirteenth country in the world to have a sovereign space launch site.

The choice was made on Somalia not only because of the close bilateral relationship between the two nations, but also because of technical criteria. The country’s proximity to the equator’s line reduces fuel costs and increases the load propelled into space. Its location also allows the debris to fall safely into the Indian Ocean. According to a Turkish government source, the infrastructure will be profitable by allowing other nations to send their satellites….

Interesting, indeed.