National Central University (NCU) is to partner with HelioX Cosmos Co and other local businesses to develop a scientific payload to be part of an international mission to the moon in 2023, the university said on Monday.
NCU president Jou Jing-yang (周景揚) signed a memorandum of understanding with HelioX Cosmos founder Bill Chang (張懷謙) via teleconference, the university said in a news release.
It would be Taiwan’s first mission to deep space and the moon, it said.
The mission would be the second collaboration between the institution and the start-up, following a partnership to launch the Ionospheric Dynamics Explorer and Attitude Subsystem Satellite (IDEASSat), a cubesat launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on a rideshare mission on Jan. 24.
HelioX Cosmos, a space services supplier, is the official representative of Japanese firm Space BD, a designated service provider for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
The lunar lander is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2023, Chang said, but withheld the name of the lander’s developer due to a nondisclosure agreement.
“There will be a lunar ‘gold rush’ in the next decade,” as many other countries have planned new lunar missions, Chang said.
Hopefully, the partnership with Space BD would open up new opportunities for Taiwanese scientists to test their instruments in deep space, he said.
While he had discussed the opportunity with other academic institutions and government agencies, most were reserved about it due to funding and schedule concerns, Chang said.
He would help NCU sign a formal contract with the lander’s developer, he said.
The university’s planned 500g payload would be one of the instruments installed on the lander, NCU Department of Space Science and Engineering professor Loren Chang (張起維) said.
Faculty from the department would be consultants to help local businesses with mission planning and development, integration and testing of components, he said.
While the IDEASSat was successfully launched into orbit 525km above the Earth, operation of its integrated circuit is occasionally interrupted by ionizing radiation, so more information about space radiation needs to be incorporated into future missions, he said.
Meanwhile, the National Space Organization’s (NSPO) phase 3 space technology development program also has a space exploration and scientific innovation program with a budget of about NT$1.45 billion (US$52.47 million).
Since last year, the NSPO has commissioned local scientists to conduct feasibility studies for payloads that could be installed on a lunar orbiter, it said.
It is seeking cooperation with other countries, such as the US and Japan, or in Europe, to determine whether there are missions that Taiwan might join, be they to the moon or Mars, the NSPO said.
It would complete a mission definition for its space exploration program by 2025, it said.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS