The local research teams that developed two cubesats launched by a Space Exploration Technologies Corp’s (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket at 11pm on Sunday are dealing with signal reception problems at their ground stations.
The Transporter-1 mission launched 143 satellites — the most ever deployed on a single mission — from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, after being delayed three times due to technical problems or unfavorable weather.
Taiwan’s two cubesats are the YuSat, designed to monitor road and maritime traffic, and the Ionospheric Dynamics Explorer and Attitude Subsystem Satellite (IDEASSat), designed for ionospheric observation.
Photo courtesy of the National Space Organization
By noon yesterday, the two teams had not succeeded in communicating with the cubesats from the ground stations at the National Space Organization (NSPO), National Central University (NCU) and National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU).
However, some overseas amateur radio operators did receive signals transmitted by the two cubesats with corresponding signal frequencies, intervals and coordinates, said NCU Department of Space Science and Engineering professor Loren Chang (張起維), who oversees the IDEASSat project.
That shows the two cubesats are operating, Chang said, adding that researchers would continue to work on solving the signal reception problems.
Photo courtesy of the National Space Organization
The NSPO and the teams were yesterday planning to communicate with the cubesats at about 8:30pm as they passed above Taiwan again, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a news release yesterday afternoon.
While the cubesats are at their designated orbit of 525km above the Earth, it would take some time for them to rotate to their correct orientation, said NTOU associate professor Kao Sheng-long (高聖龍), who oversees the YuSat project.
Kao said that it might take another week or even a month to sort out the signal reception problem, but he is not that worried, because it is a normal phenomenon of scientific research and development.
Despite the small setback, the successful launch has been a boost for NCU teachers and students, who gathered at the school on Saturday and Sunday night to watch a livestream of the launch.
NCU first-year students surnamed Wang (王) and Lai (賴) on Sunday said that they were excited to join senior students and teachers in watching the launch, adding that they have to improve their knowledge of physics, calculus and system engineering if they want to be involved in satellite development.
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
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
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 —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS