The National Science Council yesterday held a ceremony with representatives of US corporations, scientific agencies and the military to publicize details of a US$5 million technology transfer program in connection with the ROCSAT-3 (
Science council officials said that ROCSAT-3 would be used to provide real-time weather monitoring data, which is essential for accurate weather forecasts.
Taiwan's National Space Program Office under the council, and the US' University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) signed a science support contract on the ROCSAT-3 program in January, and a spacecraft contract in March.
Yesterday, the science council's chairman, Wei Che-ho (
Other US representatives at the ceremony included members of the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Air Force, US Navy and officials of the American Institute in Taiwan.
The ROCSAT-3 program is a collaborative project between Taiwan and the US to develop a constellation of six low-earth orbiting satellites for weather forecasts, space weather monitoring and climate-related scientific research.
Science council officials stressed yesterday that the program was for weather-related research only and was irrelevant to national defense.
The six "constellation satel-lites," according to the program, will receive signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS). The data will be transferred to 2,500 observatories around the world. It is believed that the data will improve the precision of weather forecasting.
"ROCSAT-3 has the potential to make revolutionary improvements to weather forecasting," said David Thompson, the Orbital Science Corporation's chairman and CEO.
Scientists from both sides will work together on building a system, called the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COS-MIC), which will have three primary components, including an advanced GPS receiver, tiny ionospheric photometer and tri-band beacon transmitter. The data collected by Taiwan's constellation satellites will be received by the US COSMIC Data Analysis & Archive Center (CDAAC) and be applied to weather forecast systems.
Five Taiwanese companies are expected to benefit from the program. Technologies will be transferred to these companies for the production of 14 spacecraft components.
National Space Program Office director Lee Lou-chuang (
Lee said that the space program office was planning to build as many as 50 constellation satellites to carry out weather-related scientific research.
Dr Richard Anthes, president of UCAR, said that he was very pleased to learn about Lee's idea.
"It's the kind of forward, leadership thinking that is important ... Other countries will quickly see the value," Anthes said. He once predicted that there would be 200 constellation satellites in orbit by 2025 to improve the precision of regional weather forecasts.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat