Taiwan and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to continue bilateral scientific and technological cooperation on the Formosat-7/COSMIC-2 satellites, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday.
The de facto US embassy in Taiwan announced on Facebook that it signed a new MOU with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US this February to extend the program.
Since its launch in 2019, the program has “exemplified the close cooperation and strong partnership” between the two countries, and provided “a vital new data source contributing to space weather prediction and helping to mitigate risks to critical infrastructure globally,” the AIT said.
Photo courtesy of the American Institute in Taiwan
This extension of the program would mark “a new era of great cooperation between the United States and Taiwan,” it said. “The whole world will continue to benefit from the ongoing US-Taiwan scientific engagement.”
The National Space Organization (NSPO) has said that the Formosat-7 is a highly reliable constellation of weather observation satellites it established together with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a follow-up to the Formosat-3 program.
The US is responsible for satellite launches, payloads and the deployment of ground receiving stations around the world, while Taiwan is responsible for the design and integration of systems, the development of six spacecraft and conducting mission operations, the NSPO said.
The constellation was launched into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25, 2019, using a Space Exploration Technologies Falcon Heavy rocket.
This story has been corrected since it was first published.
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
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
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
RSS