An alliance to promote space-level radioactivity resistance testing has been established to help local firms connect with the global space industry, the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) said yesterday.
After Taiwan’s first domestically produced satellite Formosat-5 was launched in 2017 to supply remote-sensing images, the nation has worked harder to foster a space industry and last year established the Taiwan Space Industry Development Association.
The alliance aims to help Taiwan evolve from a nation with a booming semiconductor industry to one supplying electronic components that can withstand space-level radioactivity, it said.
Photo courtesy of the National Space Organization
The NARL-affiliated National Space Organization, which leads the association, would be tasked with establishing a platform and standards for verifying components’ resistance to space-level radioactivity, it added.
The organization on Tuesday signed memorandums of understanding to cooperate with Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou, Chang Gung University’s Institute for Radiological Research, the Atomic Energy Council’s Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Academia Sinica’s Institute of Physics, National Tsing Hua University’s Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, as well as Integrated Service Technology Inc, it said.
As protons are found in nearly 95 percent of the environment in low-Earth orbit, or 106km to 1,000km above the Earth, the alliance’s service would encompass the impact of protons on electronic components, it added.
The company would be in charge of testing commercial components, while the hospital would utilize its proton radiation instruments, originally used for treatment, to test the effects of radiation, the NARL said.
The Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center would employ its instruments to produce high-energy gamma rays to simulate space radiation, while the Institute of Physics and Chang Gung University would help with data analysis, it said.
In addition to providing a one-stop service, the alliance would produce analysis reports for suppliers to improve their product designs and manufacturing processes, the NARL said.
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