Fri, Mar 21, 2003 page6

• Pioneering satellite still going strong

  • By Melody Chen / STAFF REPORTER
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  The country's first low-earth orbiting satellite, ROC Satellite-1 (ROCSAT-1), has completed all the tasks it was designed to perform, the National Science Council said yesterday.

  ROCSAT-1, launched on Jan. 27, 1999, had three scientific research missions: ocean color imaging, experiments on ionospheric plasma and electrodynamics, and experiments using Ka-band (20GHz-30 GHz) communication payloads, said council Vice Chairman Shieh Ching-jyh (謝清志).

  Data collected using the satellite's ocean color imager has been used for oceanography studies by institutions around the world, the council said.

  "The chlorophyll data can be applied to environmental studies and fishery," said Lee Lou-chuang (李羅權), director of the National Space Program Office (NSPO).

  The office also observed the movements of sand storms over the Yellow Sea through its ocean color imaging devices, the council said.

  The ROCSAT-1's ionosphere plasma and electrodynamics instrument (IPEI) has also produced data useful in research around the world, the council said. The ionospere is the outermost layer of the earth's atmosphere.

  "The IPEI detected an `ionospheric density hole' above Brazil on Bastille Day on July 14, 2000," said Ting Nan-hung (丁南宏), the head of the NSPO's program control section.

  The biggest magnetic storm for nearly 20 years occurred on that day.

  "During the event, an extensive two-dimensional profile of the ionospheric density hole was measured by a satellite for the first time," Ting said.

  According to the council, the discovery has drawn international attention. Lee said communications could be affected during magnetic storms because particles may damage communications satellites.

  Ting said that the satellite had also conducted three experiments on Ka-band communications.

  "The main objective of the experiments is to investigate satellite-signal characteristics at Ka-band over the Taiwan area," Ting said.

  The mission life of the ROCSAT-1 was originally supposed to be two years.

  "Nevertheless, after four years, the satellite is still in good shape and operates well. The success of the satellite has far exceeded our expectations," Lee said.

  The satellite may continue operating for another two years, the council said.

  Through the ROCSAT-1 project, the NSPO hoped to build the infrastructure for a domestic space program and to gain experience of space systems engineering, Ting said.

  Through the project, NSPO engineers have also learned how to design, manufacture, assemble and test spacecraft buses independently, Ting said.

  According to the council, with the NSPO's assistance, four domestic manufacturers obtained technology transfer agreements regarding space-qualified satellite components from foreign manufacturers.

  The council said that with the transferred technical know-how, the four manufacturers were able to produce five spacecraft components for ROCSAT-1: the onboard computer, the remote interface unit, the S-band antenna, the filter/-diplexer and the solar array panel assembly.

  Following the success of ROCSAT-1, the council said it was preparing to launch ROCSAT-2 and ROCSAT-3.

  According to council, ROCSAT-2's missions would include observing upper atmospheric lightning.
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