The nation is slated to launch a weather satellite called Triton, or “Wind Hunter” (獵風者), in the first quarter of next year, the National Space Organization (NSPO) said.
Triton, the second domestically developed satellite after the Formosat-5, is being tested and is scheduled for a pre-shipping review next month, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Equipped with Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry, developed by the NSPO, the 250kg satellite is designed to receive global navigation signals while in low Earth orbit for the study of ocean-atmosphere interchange and typhoon intensity predictions.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Triton should help improve the accuracy of weather forecasts, especially predictions of strong wind and torrential rain.
Taiwan has allocated a budget of NT$3.5 billion (US$109.39 million) for space-related projects this year, NSPO Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) said.
Meanwhile, the organization’s name is scheduled to change to the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) on Jan. 1 next year, when the Act for the Establishment of the Taiwan Space Agency (國家太空中心設置條例) takes effect after being passed by the Legislative Yuan in April.
The new agency is to be overseen by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The TASA is to be a a nondepartmental public body with an independent budget, with an aim to match the efforts of South Korea’s space industry, Wu said.
The act intends to create an agency dedicated to conceiving and carrying out space technology projects, as well as studying and applying space technology.
The TASA is to promote international cooperation in space technology, provide the industry with guidance on relevant technologies and study the legal system related to space affairs.
Selecting, planning, operating and managing national space launch sites as well as reviewing the registration of launch vehicles and spacecraft also fall under the agency’s core areas of work.
It is also to nurture talents in space technology, promote education in space science and improve civic participation in the field.
The TASA is being established to “enhance national space technology research and development capabilities, to implement national space strategies and plans, and to promote the development of our space activities,” the act says.
The agency is expected to have 11 to 15 directors on its board, along with three to five supervisors, all with three-year terms that can only be renewed once, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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