Triton, Taiwan’s first domestically produced weather satellite, was successfully launched into space from French Guiana and entered orbit yesterday morning, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) said.
The satellite was launched at 9:36am Taiwan time on Vega, an Ariane space commercial launcher designed with a target payload lift capability of 1,500kg and which has had 22 missions.
Triton was ejected from the launcher about 54 minutes after takeoff and communicated with Troll, a Norwegian research station in Antarctica, at 12:19pm, TASA Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) said.
Photo: screen shot from a Taiwan Space Agency livestream
The satellite was scheduled to communicate with a ground station in Taiwan for the first time when it passed by at 8:56pm yesterday, he said.
Triton was scheduled to launch on Saturday, but the mission was postponed after an abnormality was discovered 14 seconds into the countdown. The mission resumed following a 48-hour close inspection of the launch vehicle, Wu said.
The satellite is carrying the Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R), which is tailored to analyze signals reflected by the global navigation satellite system on the surface of the sea to analyze wind speeds, Wu said, adding that data collected by the GNSS-R would be important for climate science research and weather forecasting.
Photo: CNA
Climate researchers and meteorologists can use the satellite to observe extreme weather and typhoons in low-latitude zones of the central Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, Wu said.
About 82 percent of the Triton satellite, including the payload, was developed and manufactured in Taiwan, the TASA said, adding that more than 20 research-and-development units and manufacturers participated in the development of the equipment at the ground station.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) thanked everybody involved in the successful launch of Triton for persevering despite the challenges.
“Not only is this a major step forward for Taiwan’s aerospace industry, but it is also an achievement that should make all Taiwanese proud,” Tsai said.
“The successful launch of Triton has proven that Taiwan has an advantage in manufacturing semiconductors and precision equipment. We absolutely have the capability to advance the global aerospace industry,” she said.
The government is scheduled to launch Phase III of its space program, to which NT$25 billion (US$776 million) would be devoted over 10 years, to build a space industry chain and cultivate next-generation talent in the space industry.
The launch of Formosat-5 in 2017 and Formosat-7 in 2019 showed that Taiwan has the capability to develop its own satellites, Tsai said.
“From the transonic advanced jet trainer AIDC T-5 Brave Eagle, the Hai Kun submarine launch to the launch of Triton into space, we can proudly say to the next generation: Taiwan-made products can be showcased in the international market and can fly in the air, be immersed in the sea and operate in space,” Tsai said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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