Taiwan and the US are discussing the potential for spaceport cooperation, which could shorten travel time between Taipei and Houston, Texas, to two-and-a-half hours, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said on Monday.
The program would expand space cooperation between Taiwan and the US, the AIT said on Facebook, adding that the matter is “awaiting further evaluation.”
Ellington Airport in Houston already has a spaceport license, it said.
Photo: Screen grab from American Institute in Taiwan’s Facebook page
If suborbital flights are used, it would take only two-and-a-half hours to travel between Taipei and Houston, the AIT said.
The cooperation could initially focus on uncrewed cargo missions before maturing technology enables crewed flights, it added.
“This concept highlights Taiwan’s potential for space innovation and also marks the deep scientific and technological partnership between the United States and Taiwan,” the AIT said.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), which oversees the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), yesterday welcomed the expansion of bilateral space cooperation, but added that specific plans for space transportation required further evaluation and discussion.
An entirely new form of transportation, the spaceport program could use several different approaches, an unnamed official from Houston First, the tourism bureau of Houston, said late last month.
One would involve a large aircraft carrying a spacecraft into the air and releasing it over open ocean, the official said.
After release, the spacecraft would ignite its engine, ascend vertically through the atmosphere, adjust its orientation, then return to Earth in a free-fall trajectory before making a precision landing at a designated airport, the official added.
The US has 20 spaceports and launch or re-entry sites, including the Houston Spaceport, which is located next to Ellington Airport, US Federal Aviation Administration information says.
That airport focuses on spacecraft development and supports training activities for NASA.
A source familiar with the matter said that relevant US agencies have engaged in informal discussions about the spaceport concept with TASA during international exchange events.
Given the speed of launch and landing, such travel is currently unsuitable for untrained passengers, making cargo transport a more feasible application, the source said.
Taiwan currently does not have a spaceport.
The NSTC announced earlier this year that Jioupeng Village (九棚) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州) was selected as the location for Taiwan’s national launch facility, with current plans focused on launch operations after the site is completed.
However, space has been reserved at the site for potential expansion into a spaceport capable of handling landings, the source said.
Separately, when asked about the potential spaceport cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs North American Affairs Department Director-General Wang Liang-yu (王良玉) yesterday said that the ministry does not have details on the issue, but it would discuss it with relevant government agencies, and that it would be glad to assist where needed.
Additional reporting by Tsai Yun-jung
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