Taiwan Space Agency
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Taiwan Space Agency (abbreviated TASA), formerly the National Space Organization (NSPO) from 1991 to 2023, is the national civilian space agency of
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, under the auspices of the
National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and T ...
. TASA is involved in the development of space technologies and related research.


Organization

TASA headquarters and the main ground control station are in
Hsinchu Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inhabitants. Hsinchu is a coastal city bordering the Taiwan ...
. In April 2022, the
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...
passed a bill that upgraded the NSPO to a directly affiliated agency of the
National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and T ...
, and renamed Taiwan Space Agency. The TASA is organized as follows: TASA also has numerous laboratories, such as: * System Simulation Laboratory * Thermal Control Laboratory * Microwave Communication Laboratory * Data Processing Laboratory * Attitude Determination and Control Laboratory * Electro-optics Laboratory * Structure Development Laboratory * Electrical Power Laboratory * Multi-layer Insulation (MLI) Laboratory


History


1991

* 10/03
The Executive Yuan approved the "Space Technology Long Term (15 years) Developmental Program"; established National Space Program Office.


1994

* 09/09
Held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Satellite Integration & Test Building * 11/01
Signed a frequency coordination contract with a US company Telecom Strategies * 12/12
Signed a ground system contract with the US company Allied Signal Technical Service Corponation (ATSC)


1996

* 06/30
The completion of the five domestic component engineering model development; start the manufacture of flight unit.


1997

* 04/25
Held a FORMOSAT-1 antenna installment ceremony at Tainan National Cheng Kung University. * 05/16
The Spacecraft Bus was delivered to the Satellite Integration & Test Building of National Space Program Office from Los Angeles, USA * 07/11
The Vice President Lien officiated the opening ceremony of the Satellite Integration & Test Building.


1998

* 06/21
National Science Council announced the result for the "Naming and Drawing Competitions", and finalized that the satellite will be named "FORMOSAT-1" * 10/07
The completion of FORMOSAT-1 satellite system integration and tests.


1999

* 01/27
FORMOSAT-1 was being launched into the orbit and started executing its scientific missions. * 02/13
The Ocean Color Imager of FORMOSAT-1 took its first ocean color image. * 03/16
Dr Wong Hung-Chih took on the Director General position of the National Space Program Office. * 06/30
Held a contract signing ceremony for the FORMOSAT-2 X-band antenna system. * 12/15
The commencement of the development of FORMOSAT-2.


2018

* 02/01
Dr. Chun-Liang Lin took on the Director General position of National Space Organization * 02/23
President Tsai Meets with FORMOSAT-5 Satellite Team * 08/03
President of the Executive Yuan Ching-te Lai inspected FORMOSAT-7 preparation * 09/21
FORMOSAT-5 Imagery Service Begins


2019

* 02/21
President Ing-wen Tsai Visited NSPO * 06/25
FORMOSAT-7 satellites launched into space by
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
on
Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...
* 07/17
FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 successfully observed the first Radio Occultation profile


2020

* 03/07
FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 atmospheric data were released * 04/30
FORMOSAT-3 constellation Completes its Mission with Honor


2021

* 01/24
YUSAT and IDEASSAT CubeSats launched * 02/03
Formosat-7 constellation deployment was completed * 05/31
"Space Development Act" Passes Legislature's 3rd Reading * 08/02
professor of NCTU and head of Advanced Rocket Research Center Jong-Shin Wu established as new manager of NSPO * 09/30
Taiwanese seeds return from space * 10/27
signs contract on collaboration with NanoAvionics


2023

The organization is placed under the direct oversight of the
National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and T ...
and renamed the Taiwan Space Agency. The Chinese name was not changed.


2025

The agency selected a site in Pingtung County for the construction of Taiwan's National Launch Site.


Taiwanese rocket launch program

TASA developed
sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
based on the Sky Bow II
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...
with added booster. There have been 10 launches as of 2024, with 9 successful flights.


Taiwanese designed and built satellites


Formosat (formerly ROCSAT)

The FORMOSAT (福爾摩沙衛星) name derived from
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...
and
satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
(formerly ROCSAT (中華衛星), an abbreviation of
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and satellite. *
Formosat-1 Formosat-1 (, formerly known as ROCSAT-1) was an Earth observation satellite operated by the National Space Program Office (NSPO; now the Taiwan Space Agency) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to conduct observations of the ionosphere and oceans. ...
(formerly ROCSAT-1):
Communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
and
ionospheric The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...
research satellite, launched in January 1999. * Formosat-2 (formerly ROCSAT-2): Ionospheric research and surface mapping satellite, launched May 2004. *
Formosat-3/COSMIC Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) is a program designed to provide advances in meteorology, ionospheric research, climatology, and space weather by using GPS satellites in conjunction with low Earth ...
: Constellation of six
microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organ ...
s to perform GPS occultation studies of the upper atmosphere. Collaborative project with US agencies including
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
,
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...
and the
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is a US nonprofit consortium of more than 100 colleges and universities providing research and training in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmosph ...
, launched in April 2006. *
Formosat-5 Formosat-5 (Formosa Satellite 5; ) is the first Earth observation satellite manufactured and operated solely by the National Space Organization, the national civilian space agency of Taiwan. The satellite was launched from a Falcon 9 rocket on 2 ...
: Optical earth observation and magnetic field research as a successor to the Japanese
Reimei Reimei ('Dawn') is the in-flight name for a small Japanese satellite known during development as INDEX (INnovative-technology Demonstration Experiment), developed in-house at JAXA both to serve as a demonstration of small-satellite technologies (p ...
mission. Cooperation with Japan and Canada. Launch was originally planned for 2011, it was launched in 2017. *Formosat-6 was a micro satellite project, its development was cancelled. * Formosat-7 is a group of 6 satellites in low inclination orbits to provide meteorology data at low and mid latitudes. Launch took place in June 2019. *Triton, The FORMOSAT-7R (TRITON) is a micro-satellite designed and manufactured by NSPO. It is planned along with the FORMOSAT-7 program, thus it continues to use FORMOSAT serial number and subjoins a letter "R" for identification. Known as the "wind hunter" the satellite will measure sea winds and provide a supplement to the FORMOSAT-7 constellation. The name "Triton" is given due to its mission. Triton was launched on October 8, 2023, by
Arianespace SA Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a medium-to- heavy-lift rocket. Arianespace is a subs ...
from the Kourou launch complex in
French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
. The Triton satellite will be 87% Taiwanese made, an improvement from the Formosat-7's 78%. *
Formosat-8 Formosat-8 is a planned constellation of Taiwanese earth observation satellites. The Taiwan Space Agency expects to launch the first satellite in 2025. History The program builds off of Formosat-5, a remote imaging satellite which was launched ...
, planned six satellite earth imaging constellation


Others

* YamSat: Series of
picosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...
s (volume 1000 cubic cm, weight roughly 850 grams) designed to carry out simple short duration
spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...
missions. Originally planned for launch in 2003 by a Russian launch vehicle but cancelled due to political pressure from the Russian government. * Arase:
JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...
mission to study the inner magnetosphere, launched 2016. Taiwan provided an instrument. * RISESAT: microsatellite developed by
Tohoku University is a public research university in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. It is colloquially referred to as or . Established in 1907 as the third of the Imperial Universities, after the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, it initially focused on sc ...
, Japan, launched in 2019. Taiwan provided an instrument. *Flying Squirrel, developed by National Central University and launched in 2021. *Yushan, developed by MoGaMe Mobile Entertainment and launched in 2021.


Planned missions

*Triton, The FORMOSAT-7R (TRITON) is a micro-satellite designed and manufactured by NSPO. It is planned along with the FORMOSAT-7 program, thus it continues to use FORMOSAT serial number and subjoins a letter "R" for identification. Known as the "wind hunter" the satellite will measure sea winds and provide a supplement to the FORMOSAT-7 constellation. The name "Triton" is given due to its mission. Triton is to be launched in 2021 by
Arianespace SA Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a medium-to- heavy-lift rocket. Arianespace is a subs ...
from the Kourou launch complex in
French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
. The Triton satellite will be 87% Taiwanese made, an improvement from the Formosat-7's 78%. *Formosat-8,
remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...
satellite planned to follow Triton. *Formosat-8B, a remote sensing satellite. It also has a science payload called Gamma-ray Transients Monitor(GTM). It is the first
astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...
satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
by TASA. *Nut, developed by National Formosa University. To be launched in June 2021.


Developments and long term plans

The first phase of Taiwan's space program involves the development of the human and technological resources required to build and maintain three satellite programs, which is expected to be completed with the launch of Formosat-3/COSMIC by the end of 2005. Currently, the spacecraft and instrumentation are designed and assembled in Taiwan by local and foreign corporations and shipped to the U.S. for launch by commercial space launch firms. TASA, the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
, and
Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST; ) is a Taiwanese state owned corporation, formerly part of the Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, which is active in the development, manufacturing, support, and su ...
have also been working on the development of a
sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
for upper atmospheric studies. The second phase is scheduled to take place between 2006 and 2018. It will involve an emphasis on developing technological integration and miniaturization capabilities required for the development of constellations of microsatellites, as well as encouraging growth in the local aerospace industry. Since 2009, TASA has been working with university research teams in developing innovative technology to improve the overall efficiency of
hybrid rocket A hybrid-propellant rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor that uses rocket propellants in two different phases: solid rocket propellant, one solid and the other either gas or liquid rocket propellant, liquid. The hybrid rocket concept can be tr ...
s. Nitrous oxide/HTPB propellant systems were employed with efficiency boosting designs, which resulted in great improvements in hybrid rocket performance using two patented designs. So far, several hybrid rockets have been successfully launched to 10~20 km altitudes, including a demonstration of in-flight stops/restarts. By the end of 2014, they will attempt conducting suborbital experiments to 100~200 km altitude. There have been proposals to elevate NSPO's status to that of a national research institute, however such plans were under debate
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...
as of late 2007. In 2019 the Ministry of Science and Technology announced an expected cost of NT$25.1 billion (US$814 million) for the third phase of the National Space Program. The third phase will see at least one satellite launched per year between 2019 and 2028. In August 2019 Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency announced that they would consult with TASA on developing their own indigenous satellites. In 2021 the Taiwanese legislature passed the Space Development Promotion Act which is meant to incentivize increased private sector participation in space industries.


See also

* Advanced Rocket Research Center *
List of government space agencies Government space agencies, established by the governments of countries and regional agencies (groupings of countries) are established as a means for advocating for engaging in activities related to outer space, exploitation of space systems, ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Space agencies Space program of Taiwan Executive Yuan Buildings and structures in Hsinchu 1991 establishments in Taiwan Scientific organizations based in Taiwan