The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) is to join other Asia-Pacific nations in cooperation on a rideshare satellite mission launched by BAE Systems, the London-based company Aerospace said.
Peter Stockton, head of business development and sales of BAE Systems’ In-Space Missions, was in Taipei for the Taiwan International Assembly of Space Science, Technology and Industry, which ended on Wednesday.
The results of TASA’s research and development were impressive, he told the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) in an interview, adding that Taiwan and the UK would cooperate to integrate Taiwan-made payloads into BAE Systems’ “Faraday Dragon” space mission.
Photo: Screen grab from In-Space Missions’ Web site
Faraday Dragon is a small rideshare satellite weighing 310kg, and would be the world’s first rideshare satellite mission with multiple nations in the Asia-Pacific region participating.
The project is sponsored by the UK Space Agency, with BAE Systems building the satellite.
Taiwan is earmarked to lead the development of the payload technology.
A rideshare satellite mission can carry multiple payloads at a time.
It can also allow countries to deliver equipment into space and share information.
Aside from Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines would also participate in the Faraday Dragon mission.
On the Web site of a subsidiary of BAE Systems, Taiwan’s national flag was listed alongside those of the UK and Singapore.
TASA’s team would travel to the UK and integrate their payload with the BAE Systems’ satellite, which is scheduled to be launched by SpaceX in 2027, Stockton said.
BAE’s goal is to sign the contract with TASA at the beginning of next year and have at least one payload from TASA integrated into the satellite, Stockton said.
Once launched, the satellite can operate in space for at least five years, he added.
The UK Space Agency’s International Bilateral Fund, which focuses on supporting the UK space sector to work directly with international partners, is funding the project.
TASA has pre-selected four Taiwan-made equipment to be sent into space, including TASA’s independently developed planetarium and phase change materials, a solar sensor that it developed in cooperation with National Yangming Chiao Tung University and a gamma-ray transient monitor it created in partnership with National Tsing Hua University.
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