ROCSAT-2, the second satellite that Taiwan has put into space, was launched yesterday in California at 1:47am Taiwan time, making the nation not only a satellite-image exporter but also a leader in the hot field of upper-atmospheric lightning research, the National Science Council said yesterday.
Celebrating the event at the headquarters of the council's National Space Program Office (NSPO) in Hsinchu -- and viewing real-time images from the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base -- were Wei Che-ho (
PHOTO: CNA
An improved Taurus launch vehicle operated by US Orbital Sciences Corp (OSC) -- bearing Taiwan's national flag and the imprint of the ROCSAT-2 mission -- lifted the 750kg satellite into space. Eighty-four seconds after liftoff, the launch vehicle's Stage Zero rocket had finished burning, creating a white air-current tail.
According to data sent back from the launch vehicle, ROCSAT-2 and the rocket separated 15 minutes after liftoff, at which point the satellite went into its temporary orbit 737km above the Earth -- 14km higher than expected.
Seventy-four minutes after the launch, ROCSAT-2 completed its first telemetry feedback to a ground-support station in Kiruna, Sweden.
"The successful liftoff demonstrates Taiwan's potential to upgrade its space industry," Wei said.
In the future, we are confident that domestic firms will be able to replace foreign companies and become major contractors for satellite projects," Wei said.
The satellite project, which cost NT$4.7 billion (US$142 million), was designed and built by the NSPO in collaboration with Astrium Co of France.
The project got under way in 2000.
At 8:25am yesterday, after the satellite's fourth orbit around the globe, it made contact with Taiwan for the first time, sending information to a receiving station in Chungli.
All information was transferred to NSPO headquarters in Hsinchu, allowing scientists at the NSPO's Mission Operation Center to perform a series of checks on the satellite's operations.
NSPO officials said that the satellite would be transferred to a higher orbit at 891km.
All tests on the satellite's functions will be completed within about a month. After that, the craft will begin a 5-year remote-sensing observation project and an investigation of upper-atmospheric lightning.
"Now, Taiwan will be an exporter of satellite images and a key player in investigating the mysterious phenomenon of upper-atmospheric lightning," Lee said.
President Chen Shui-bian (
"The successful liftoff is a great gift that the team has presented to Taiwan's people," Chen said.
Happiness about the launch was shared by those who had traveled to the US to observe it.
Shieh Ching-jyh (
Shieh told the Taipei Times yesterday from California that the ROCSAT-2 team had been criticized too much for a series of delays that had delayed previous launch attempts.
"Responsible engineers have to discover potential problems and fix them to ensure a successful mission," Shieh said.
"We've been doing this for a long time," Shieh said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS