The national space agency yesterday officially changed its name to the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), after it was earlier this week upgraded and placed under the purview of the Cabinet-level National Science and Technology Council.
The Hsinchu City-based entity, previously called the National Space Organization, was renamed to include “Taiwan,” as this would improve readability and international recognition, the council said.
“The reorganization is a very important milestone for the country’s space development” as domestic technology would now receive more international recognition, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at the rebranding ceremony.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
She said after the reorganization, TASA would be tasked with additional assignments, such as working with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to upgrade the nation’s space industry and working with the Ministry of Education to train space industry talent.
To seize international business opportunities, “we have been preparing to install ourselves in space. Taiwan’s 30 years of development of space technology and its accumulated results in the research and development of satellites have given it an excellent track record,” Tsai said.
TASA Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) told reporters that the reorganization would give the agency access to additional resources.
Taiwan’s advantage in space development is that it has the necessary fundamentals and has reached the stage at which is develops its own components, Wu said.
TASA, which currently employs about 200 people, is planning to recruit about 300 new staff over the next three years, Wu added.
“The restructuring also allows for a raise in salaries, which will be more attractive compared with the past,” he said.
The restructuring was implemented on Jan. 1 in accordance with the Act for the Establishment of the Taiwan Space Agency (國家太空中心設置條例), which was promulgated on May 4 last year.
The upgraded status aims to enhance national space technology research and development capabilities, implement national space strategies and plans, and promote the development of space activities and the space industry, the act says.
Originally established in 1991 as the National Space Program Office of the National Space Technology Long-Term Development Program, the entity became part of the National Applied Research Laboratories in 2003 and renamed the National Space Organization in 2005.
Since 1999, the agency has seen the launch of the Formosat-1, Formosat-2, Formosat-3, Formosat-5 and Formosat-7 satellites.
The Formosat-5 and Formosat-7 constellations are still in service, while Formosat-8, a constellation of six high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites, is to be launched next year and in 2025.
The TRITON (Wind-Hunter Satellite) is to be launched this year as part of an effort to research air-sea interaction and predict the intensity of typhoons, Wu said.
“Through a GPS receiver we can measure the height of the waves in the sea and calculate the speed of the wind, which is very important for our daily weather predictions,” Wu said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS