ISTANBUL

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the mission of the country’s first astronaut, Alper Gezeravci, marked the beginning of a new era for Turkish space exploration.

During a video call with Gezeravci, Erdogan said with this critical mission within the scope of Türkiye's National Space Program, he has become an inspiration to everyone in the country, particularly children and young people.

The Ax-3 mission, which included Gezeravci, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:49 p.m. ET Thursday (2149GMT) on a Falcon 9 rocket owned by private space exploration company SpaceX.

The crew-carrier Dragon capsule docked at 5:42 a.m. EST (1042GMT), and the crew entered the International Space Station (ISS) at 0716 EST. The four-person team will conduct more than 30 scientific researches during their 14-day stay, with Gezeravci responsible for 13 researches.

Gezeravci said in the video call: "As we step into the Century of Türkiye, I am proud to represent my country in this meaningful mission and to carry our flag to the International Space Station."

Giving details about experiments that he will conduct on the ISS, he added: "I completed my first task by transferring our experimental set-ups from the Dragon capsule to their pre-experiment storage field."

Erdogan said Gezeravci is the first Turkish astronaut but he is not last, adding: "Türkiye has taken its place among the countries carrying out crewed space missions."