A CubeSat designed and made by the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) was yesterday launched into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, TASA said in a statement today.
The PARUS-T2, carried by a Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) Transporter-14 rocket, was launched at 2:25pm California time and positioned in low-earth orbit at an altitude of 621km about 136 minutes after that, TASA said.
It connected with an overseas earth station two hours after positioning in orbit and was expected to connect with Taiwan's earth station at 10pm today, TASA said.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Space Agency via CNA
A cube satellite, or CubeSat, is a miniaturized satellite made up of multiple cubic modules of about 10cm³.
The PARUS-T2, a CubeSat measuring 30cm by 10cm by 10cm, is based on the PARUS-T1, which was sent into orbit on Jan. 15, but improvements were made to its satellite computer, power control system, satellite battery and global navigation satellite system receiver.
It has a new deployment mechanism to unfold its solar panel and is equipped with an altitude determination and control system developed by Taiwanese company Tensor Tech, TASA said.
It also carries a communication payload and an automatic packet reporting system payload, both made in Taiwan, the agency said.
The primary 12-month mission is to verify the satellite's performance, with the goal of improving the reliability of CubeSats developed by TASA, it said.
Once their reliability is confirmed, TASA hopes to develop a stable supply of CubeSats for commercial and academic use, ultimately boosting Taiwan's global competitiveness in the space industry, the agency said.
The PARUS project was named after Taiwan's indigenous Sittiparus castaneoventris, or chestnut-bellied tit, with the hope that domestically made satellites would fly high into the sky, TASA said.
The next PARUS CubeSat, PARUS-6U1, is expected to be launched in October carried by a SpaceX Transporter-15 rocket, it added.
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
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS