The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) on Thursday said that the Formosat-8 satellite could be launched at the end of next year.
TASA deputy director-general Yu Shiann-jeng (余憲政) said at a legislative hearing on Thursday that there is a chance Formosat-8 would be launched at the end of next year, and that the integration of the satellite is still being tested.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) said TASA has raised the domestic content of the satellite to more than 80 percent, with the precise rate to be calculated once all tests have been completed.
Photo: screen grab from Taipei Aeropspace & Defense Technology Exhibition’s Web site
The Formosat-8 program is one of the priority missions of the third phase of the long-term national space technology program, which was scheduled to take place from 2019 to 2028 after it was approved by the Executive Yuan in 2018.
The council has proposed that the program be extended to 2031, and an official proposal would soon be sent to the Executive Yuan after cross-ministerial discussions, NSTC foresight and innovation policies department head Chen Kuo-liang (陳國樑) told the legislature.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yi-chin (林宜瑾) said TASA was invited by the US’ Space Foundation to participate in the latter’s Space Symposium for the first time last year, and has also been invited to attend this year, with TASA Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) heading a delegation to the event.
China on the other hand has not been invited for two consecutive years, showing that the US is alarmed by China’s space development, Lin said, adding that Taiwan should pay similar attention.
NSTC Deputy Minister Lin Minn-tsong (林敏聰) said that space science and industry are both strategically important and relate to geopolitics, adding that China’s absence from the Space Symposium is also related to geopolitical concerns.
Space technologies are part of Taiwan’s “national core technologies” and strictly controlled, he said, adding that the council and TASA would continue engaging in exchanges and establish connections with other countries.
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