Ending months of speculation about the fate of Taiwan's satellite project, National Science Council (NSC) officials said yesterday official permission for a French firm to complete the task had been given.
The issuing of a sensitive high-technology export permit by the government in France means Matra Marconi space (MMS) will begin construction of Taiwan's second satellite (ROCSAT-2, 中華衛星二號) on Dec. 15.
A launch date for the satellite has been given as the middle of 2003.
NSC officials said yesterday the Matra Marconi contract was sealed Dec. 3, soon after the French government issued the high-tech export permit at the end of November.
Prior to the French company's intervention a German firm had been contracted by the NSC to develop the satellite, but it had been unable to get an export license from its government. Speculation was rife that this was due to pressure exerted by the Chinese.
"It [signing the contract] went well and there was no noise from the international community at all. I have to make it clear here that the satellite will not be used for military purposes, but rather for collecting environmental resource data," said NSC chairman Huang Chen-tai (
"Importing scientific research-related satellite technology is a priority for us. If we had civilian satellites such as ROCSAT-2, the reconstruction work in disaster areas hit by the 921 earthquake could be accelerated," Huang said.
The ROCSAT-2 program, approved by the Executive Yuan in 1997, is designed to perform real-time remote sensing of the ocean and landmass in the vicinity of Taiwan.
Officials from the National Space Program Office (NSPO) yesterday said the NT$2.37 billion contract with Matra Marconi was less than the previous budget figure of NT$2.71 billion.
They said the satellite's functions and technical specifications would be the same, although plans to equip the satellite with 14 main devices were reduced to six.
"Satellite-related technology, with a total value of between NT$300 million and NT$400 million will be transferred from the company to NSPO and six local contracted companies," said its director, Wang Hung-chih (
Wang said the most valuable part of the technology transfer would be the ability to design software for flying the satellite.
"Taiwan would be able to apply similar technology to several other fields, which will be an important part of people's lives in the future," Wang said.
A dozen NSPO scientists would go to France and join in the primary two-month long stage of designing the satellite with Matra Marconi, Wang said.
NSPO officials said yesterday the contract would not be affected by plans for Astrium -- a merger of the space systems arms of Germany's DASA with Matra Marconi Space.
"If Matra Marconi is renamed Astrium-France, it will still be the NSC's business partner in France," Wang said.
According to a Dec. 7 Financial Times report, the European Commission said the proposed satellite venture between German, French and British companies has raised "serious concerns" about dominance in the European market for space systems.
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