The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) on Wednesday announced that the Taiwan-Japan codeveloped small satellite Onglaisat had hit a key milestone by completing 50 imaging operations and successfully testing three key technologies.
After nearly three months of in-orbit operation, Onglaisat achieved its objectives after downloading and processing 50 images of the Earth, TASA said.
Onglaisat had also successfully tested the Korsch off-axis optical system, the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) time delay and integration (TDI) image sensor, and the JPEG 2000 onboard compression capability, TASA added.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Space Agency
Onglaisat project leader Chan Chen-yu (詹鎮宇) said that small satellites, or cubesats, are a quicker and more affordable “pathfinder” to test emerging space technologies.
The project was launched to test the feasibility of systems for use in future ultra-high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites, he added.
Regarding the off-axis optical system aboard Onglaisat, Chan said that while it presents greater design, manufacturing and assembly challenges, it has a more compact structure and improved optical performance.
With successful testing, the technology could be used on larger satellites, which would help improve image resolution, he added
The CMOS TDI image sensor, which enhances sensitivity and image quality, is the first TDI image sensor developed in Taiwan to be successfully tested in a space mission, potentially helping the country develop its own satellites, Chang said.
As for the JPEG 2000 onboard compression capability, it enables more efficient use of satellite data storage and downlink bandwidth, preventing bottlenecks in data transmission, he added.
The Onglaisat project is a collaboration project between TASA and the Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, along with several Japan-based start-up companies.
Launched into space from the US on Nov. 5 last year, Onglaisat was deployed into a 410km low Earth orbit from the International Space Station on Dec. 9 last year, TASA said.
Its mission is expected to last until early March, TASA added.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS