Taiwan is seeking to work with Germany and France on space technology, the National Science and Technology Council said on Tuesday.
A delegation to Europe, led by National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠), has met with aerospace leaders in France and Germany to discuss the latest developments in the field and the countries’ priorities, the council said in a statement.
Wu talked with German Aerospace Center CEO Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla about the possibility of tapping into Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to develop satellite components, it said.
Wu said that Taiwan’s space industry is working to develop high-resolution remote sensing satellites and low Earth orbit communication satellites, among other craft.
The delegation, which arrived in Europe on Tuesday last week and returns tomorrow, also visited France-based Arianespace, the world’s first commercial launch service provider, to check on the progress of launch preparations for Taiwan’s first indigenous weather satellite, Triton, the council said.
It is in the testing stage ahead of its planned launch on March 10 next year, on a Vega C rocket built by Arianespace at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, it said.
Also called “Wind Hunter” (獵風者) in Chinese, Triton would primarily be used for sea surface observation, which is expected to boost Taiwan’s weather and climate forecasting capabilities, it said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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