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Taiwan to launch satellites by 2010

The nation is looking forward to launching its own domestically developed satellites using locally made launch vehicles by 2010, the head of the National Science Council (NSC) said yesterday.

Fielding questions at the legislature, NSC Chairman Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) confirmed that the council had been striving to make progress in the research and development of satellite launch vehicles in the hope that Taiwan would be able to venture into space with its own satellites in less than three years.

Chen also asked for vital support from legislators for financial aid to facilitate a launch vehicle research and development project.

Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) expressed concern at the legislative session that the nation's weather satellite FORMOSAT-3 has malfunctioned, while the revenue generated by FORMOSAT-2 meant the project was not cost-efficient.

Chen confirmed that contact has been lost with one of FORMOSAT-3's six micro-satellites and two other micro-satellites appear to have malfunctioned, but then said: "It's no big deal."

Chen supported his argument by saying that FORMOSAT-3 is supposed to collect information from 1,800 "points of observation," but now collects information from 1,600 points, fulfilling 90 percent of its duties.

On concerns that FORMOSAT-2 is not cost-efficient, the NSC chief said it is a scientific research satellite and not designed to be a money-making venture.

Instead, he said, FORMOSAT-2, which also observes global weather conditions using GPS signals, offers valuable information about conditions that may lead to mudslides in Taiwan.
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