The launch of weather satellite Triton, or Wind Hunter (獵風者), has been postponed to 2022 due to component delivery delays, while cuts in the government budget have affected other satellite projects, the National Space Organization (NSPO) said yesterday.
The NSPO last year said that Triton would be launched by French rocket supplier Arianespace in the second half of next year from French Guiana, although its Web site had said that the launch was scheduled for June 2022.
NSPO Director-General Lin Chun-liang (林俊良) yesterday confirmed the delay, saying that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign suppliers could not deliver some components in time, including two solar energy panels.
The nation is working to become more independent in space technology development to reduce uncertainty and costs in satellite development, Lin said.
Triton has a NT$1.23 billion (US$41.87 million) budget, with more than 85 percent of its components developed in Taiwan, he said.
Critical components, including for its Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) system, its hydrogen peroxide system, its onboard computer, power control unit, GPS receiver and fiber-optic gyro, were developed by the NSPO in collaboration with other local academic or industrial partners, he said.
The low-Earth orbit satellite would gather GNSS signals reflected from the Earth’s surface, which would help with research on soil characteristics and air-sea interactions, as well as boosting typhoon intensity predictions, the NSPO said.
The NSPO faces a budget cut of more than NT$500 million from its proposed budget of more than NT$2 billion for next year, Lin said.
Lin did not comment on a cause for the cut, but said it would affect the development schedule of Formosat-8, a constellation of six high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites.
While the Executive Yuan last year agreed to allocate NT$25.1 billion for the third space technology development program, the NSPO’s annual funding might be adjusted every year, Lin said.
The first of the Formosat-8 satellites is scheduled to be launched in June 2023, the NSPO’s Web site showed.
Meanwhile, three cubesats commissioned by the NSPO and built by National Central University, National Formosa University, MoGaMe Mobile Entertainment Co and National Taiwan Ocean University are to be part of a rideshare launch by SpaceX in December, Lin said.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS