SpaceX launches Falcon 9 with Turkish satellite amid Armenian outrage

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket completed its first mission of 2021 by sending the Turkish communications satellite Turksat 5A into orbit – despite Armenia’s outrage to cancel the launch.

Hundreds of Armenia activists gathered around the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California last October, hoping that the Elon Musk-owned company would cut ties with Turkey.

Protesters held signs claiming that the satellite would be used to ‘kill civilians’ by attacking Armenians with unmanned aerial vehicles amid the deadly conflict between the two nations.

It seems their voices were not heard when SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 on Thursday night with the satellite at the helm.

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SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket completed its first mission of 2021 by sending the Turkish communications satellite Turksat 5A into orbit - despite outrage from Armenian activists to cancel the launch. It seems their voices weren't heard as SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 on Thursday night with the satellite at the helm

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket completed its first mission of 2021 by sending Turkish communications satellite Turksat 5A into orbit – despite outrage from Armenian activists to cancel the launch. It seems their voices weren’t heard as SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 on Thursday night with the satellite at the helm

The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan takes place in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is largely controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Fighting breaks out regularly around the Nagorno-Karabakh borders, often deadly, particularly in 2016 and July 2020.

Since the recent fighting broke out in October, dozens have been killed and wounded in apparent shelling by both sides – with each country blaming the other.

Armenian activists took to the streets to protest SpaceX’s ties to their enemy and also sent the firm emails with the subject “What if Elon Was Armenian.”

Hundreds of Armenia activists gathered around the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California in October, hoping that the company owned by Elon Musk would cut ties with Turkey.

Hundreds of Armenia activists gathered around the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California in October, hoping that the company owned by Elon Musk would cut ties with Turkey.

In the email, obtained by TechCrunch, activists explained that Armenians worldwide, an ethnic and national group, ‘have suffered from the authoritarian rule and regional influence of Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan’ – and the word ‘genocide’ became shown several times in the message. .

TechCrunch exchanged emails with a person named as the campaign’s creator, saying, “There are calls for sanctions against Turkey by the US and other NATO countries.”

“SpaceX is strongly urged to consider all of these factors and decide for itself whether to continue helping Turkey despite such overwhelming and clear evidence of criminal actions.”

Elon Musk and SpaceX can at least stop the launch to see what these studies lead to. While this could be a loss of profit for SpaceX, it would be a quantum leap for global progress. ‘

According to Space.com, SpaceX plans to send another Turskat satellite into space later this year.

The Turskat 5A satellite is currently floating in orbit that, according to its Turkish owners, will improve communication capabilities in Turkey, along with parts of Asia, Europe and Africa.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 took off from Cape Canaveral at 9:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, after a 45-minute delay – the cause has not yet been revealed.

After the mission, the Falcon 9 booster fell back to Earth and landed on the Just Read The Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 just before taking off for its first mission of 2021

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 just before taking off for its first mission of 2021

SpaceX's Falcon 9 took off from Cape Canaveral at 9:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, after a 45-minute delay - the cause has not yet been revealed

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 took off from Cape Canaveral at 9:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, after a 45-minute delay – the cause has not yet been revealed

SpaceX had a busy launch season in 2020 – it has clocked 29 successful missions – but 2021 will be twice as exciting for the company that plans to send its Falcon 9 rockets into orbit more than 40 times.

Musk’s firm is also poised to launch its latest Starship prototype, serial number 9 (SN9), this weekend, following the constraints of the airspace.

SN9 would attempt the same mission as its serial number 8 predecessor (SN8) which completed a 12.6 mile high altitude test flight on December 8.

The huge missile hit its flight target, but exploded on the launch pad the moment it landed.

However, Musk considered the launch a success – he said the prototype, although destroyed, has amassed a wealth of data that will take SpaceX one step closer to sending humans to Mars aboard the rocket.

Why Armenia and Azerbaijan Are Fighting

WHAT AND WHERE IS NAGORNO-KARABAKH?

Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan that has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since a large-scale separatist war ended in 1994, after killing about 30,000 people and expelling an estimated one million.

Nagorno-Karabakh is about 1,700 square miles in size, but Armenian troops also occupy other nearby territory.

HOW DID THE CONFLICT START?

Long-standing tensions between Christian Armenians and mainly Muslim Azerbaijanis began to boil over as the Soviet Union frayed in recent years. When the USSR collapsed in 1991 and the republics became independent nations, war broke out.

A ceasefire in 1994 put Armenian and Azerbaijani forces facing each other in a demilitarized zone, where clashes were often reported.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE?

International mediation efforts have yielded little visible progress. The conflict has been an economic blow to the Caucasus as it has hindered trade and prompted Turkey to close its border with Armenia.

Fighting regularly breaks out around the Nagorno-Karabakh borders, often deadly, especially in 2016 and July. Since new fighting broke out on Sunday, dozens have been killed and injured in apparent shelling by both sides. Each country blamed the other.

WHAT IS THE WIDER IMPACT?

In addition to causing local casualties and damage, the conflict in the small, hard-to-reach region is also a concern for major regional players.

Russia is Armenia’s main economic partner and has a military base there, while Turkey has provided support to Azerbaijans, fellow Muslims and ethnic brothers to Turks. Iran borders Armenia and Azerbaijan and calls for peace.

Meanwhile, the United States, France and Russia are meant to guarantee the long-lasting peace process, under the auspices of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

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