(press release taken from Khrunichev website)

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, 16 January, 2014 – The Turksat 4A spacecraft built by Mitsubishi Electric Coroporation (МЕLCO) of Japan for Turksat AS, a Turkish satellite operator, was delivered by air to the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier today, on 16 January.  This communication satellite is to be launched by a Proton M/Breeze M launch vehicle this February.

The spacecraft together with its GSE will be moved to Integration-and-Test Facility (IFT) 92A-50.   Khrunichev together with other space industry companies are currently carrying out pre-scheduled AIT operations on the booster and the upper stage in Hall 92A-50.

Following Turksat 4A installation onto the dedicated integration-and-test stand in the clean room, satellite inspection and commissioning, MELCO will start component-level tests and processing of the spacecraft for mating to the upper stage.  These operations will include the complete sequence of functional tests and electrical check-outs of the spacecraft and its fueling.

ILS was incorporated in the United States in 1995. Today, the company is headquartered in Reston, VA. ILS has the exclusive rights for world-wide marketing of the Russian heavy-lift Proton launch vehicle. Since May 2008, the company’s majority stock is owned by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Moscow, Russia, the designer and manufacturer of the Proton LV and the Breeze M Upper Stage.

The future mission is to be the first-ever launch of a satellite built around the MELCO space bus. The 4850-kilogram Turksat 4A is designed to support TV casting and broadband communication services across Turkey as well as in some areas of Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.