Space: Students to build satellite

The Ministry of Education and the National Science Council (NSC) have teamed up to provide a series of distance-learning courses that will enable university students to design and produce Taiwan's second "picosatellite," or miniature satellite, officials said yesterday. At a ceremony for the unveiling of Taiwan's first such satellite, NSC National Space Program Office Director Lee Luo-chuan (李羅權) signed a cooperative agreement with Miao Chun-yi (苗君易), head of the ministry's Aerospace Technology Education Reform Project Promotion Office. Under the agreement, the first theory course is expected to begin in the fall semester, followed by another semester of practical learning, after which students will learn to assemble and test various "picosatellite" components at National Cheng Kung University's (成功大學) Aerospace Technology Center, Miao said.