The first Taiwan-manufactured weather satellite, Triton, or Formosat-7R, is slated to launch on Oct. 4, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) said on Friday.
Triton, or “Wind Hunter” (獵風者) in Chinese, would carry with it a Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) system, which would help the satellite transmit data on the formation of typhoons and other severe weather patterns, the agency said.
The GNSS-R system has more than 10 components and technologies wholly developed by Taiwan, with more than 20 companies participating in the project, it said.
Photo: CNA
The system can gather reflected signals in low-Earth orbit from US-owned GPS satellites, aid in ocean-atmospheric interchange research and estimate the strength of typhoons.
Triton’s launch would help test the system, which, if proven viable, could boost Taiwan’s space industry, it said.
The agency said that 82 percent of the 250kg satellite’s components were made in Taiwan.
Triton’s initial design was completed in 2014, and the final version was approved in 2015, with assembly of the satellite beginning in 2017 and completed last year, the agency said.
The fully assembled satellite passed final checks and has been delivered to the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana for launch on an Arianespace SA rocket.
The launch was initially scheduled for the first quarter of this year, but the failed launch of an Arianespace Vega-C rocket on Dec. 20 last year led to delays, a source said, asking to remain anonymous.
Arianespace said that the launch would proceed last month and switched the carrying rocket from Vega-C to the original Vega.
The company last month pushed back the launch schedule to Oct. 4 at 10:36pm, French Guiana time.
According to specifications on the Arianespace Web site, the Vega, introduced in 2012, has a target payload lift capacity of 1,500kg for missions to a 700km circular orbit.
The mission, VV23, would be carrying the Thailand Earth Observation System-2, and Triton as a secondary load.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS