The nation’s first domestically designed satellite, Formosat-5, is to be launched on Aug. 25 in the US to resume the observation missions of the decommissioned Formosat-2, the Cabinet said yesterday.
The satellite would collect data for natural disaster evaluation, national security, environmental monitoring, international rescue operations and scientific research, National Space Organization (NSPO) Director Chang Guey-shin (張桂祥) said.
Formosat-2 was decommissioned in August last year after being used in 343 disaster response missions such as providing authorities with immediate images of damaged areas during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011, Chang said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Science and Technology
The 450kg Formosat-5 is the first project in which the NSPO was fully responsible for all engineering, including payload, imaging sensors and ground control systems.
Formosat-5 is to carry the first locally made optical remote sensing instrument equipped with the world’s first space-grade metal oxide semiconductor image sensor, which the organization developed in cooperation with the nation’s electronics and semiconductor industries.
The satellite cost about NT$5.65 billion (US$186 million) to make and is to embark on a five-year observation mission around the globe.
The satellite’s launch was initially scheduled for October last year. A failed rocket test in September last year at SpaceX, the US company commissioned to launch Formosat-5, delayed the launches for all its customers, among which was the NSPO.
SpaceX is contractually required to pay 1.25 percent of the contract amount — about NT$700 million — for every month’s delay, Chang said, adding that the company is expected to pay 10 percent in compensation.
The Formosat-7 program, a follow-up Earth observation mission in which Taiwan is cooperating with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is to launch a constellation of 12 mission-specific satellites plus one NSPO-built satellite to perform radio occultation studies of the upper atmosphere, the NSPO said.
The first constellation of the Formosat-7 program, consisting of six satellites, is expected to be launched next year, the office said.
LIABILITIES MULLED: New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi said Taipei would find out if the firm was legally registered, the guide was licensed and the weather was assessed The assets of Tian Da Local Nature Co are to be frozen after at least four people died after falling into the Beishi River (北勢溪) on an outing the company had organized on Saturday, the Taipei City Government said yesterday. Six people — two adults and four children — were washed away by a flash flood on the river in New Taipei City’s Hubaotan (虎豹潭) area. They were participating in a Nature Joy Camp outdoor activity with a group of 16 adults and 15 children led by a guide surnamed Su (蘇). As of 4:30pm yesterday, four of the missing had been
Taiwanese worked more hours than people in all but three other countries in the world last year, Ministry of Labor data showed. Singapore placed first in average hours worked among the 40 economies surveyed, with an average of 2,288 hours per worker last year, the data showed. The city-state was followed by Colombia with 2,172 hours — based on 2019 data — and Mexico with 2,124 hours, it showed. Taiwan came in fourth, with 2,021 hours, it showed. South Korean workers clocked the third-most hours in Asia, with 1,908 hours, followed by Japan with 1,598 hours, it showed. However, compared with 2019, the survey found
The US 7th Fleet yesterday confirmed that a US Navy ship transited the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday. “The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey [DDG 105] conducted a Taiwan Strait transit in cooperation with Royal Canadian Navy [RCN] Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Winnipeg, October 14-15, 2021,” the US 7th Fleet said in a statement. “Dewey’s and Winnipeg’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Cooperation like this represents the centerpiece of our approach to a secure and prosperous region,” it added. The transit marked the
‘COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’: The German, French and Singaporean missions said that Taiwan’s COVID-19 restrictions are hindering local projects and business operations Several foreign missions in Taiwan have urged the government to ease its strict COVID-19 border controls, which they say are hurting in-person exchanges and business operations. The missions made the appeal in response to media inquiries on how the border controls have affected their respective countries’ exchanges with Taiwan, amid growing concerns voiced privately by Taiwan-based foreign offices and businesses regarding the restrictions. Taiwan has maintained strict entry requirements since March last year, generally prohibiting most arrivals except for citizens and foreign residents, while it has required those who enter the country to undergo a stringent 14-day quarantine. Although the rules have been
RSS