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The '''National Space Organization''' ('''NSPO'''; formerly known as the '''National Space Program Office''') is the national civilian space agency of [[Taiwan]] under the auspices of the [[Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan)]]. NSPO is involved in the development of space exploration, satellite construction and development as well as related technologies and infrastructure (including the FORMOSAT series of [[Earth observation satellite]]s) and related research in [[astronautics]], [[Quantum mechanics|quantum physics]], [[materials science]], [[aerospace engineering]], [[remote sensing]], [[astrophysics]], [[atmospheric sciences]], [[information science]], a Taiwanese [[Human spaceflight|manned spaceflight program]] and the deployment of [[Space weapon|space-based weapons]] for the defense of [[national security]] in [[Taiwan]].
The '''National Space Organization''' ('''NSPO'''; formerly known as the '''National Space Program Office''') is the national civilian space agency of [[Taiwan]] under the auspices of the [[Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan)]]. NSPO is involved in the development of space exploration, satellite construction and development as well as related technologies and infrastructure (including the FORMOSAT series of [[Earth observation satellite]]s) and related research in [[astronautics]], [[Quantum mechanics|quantum physics]], [[materials science]], [[aerospace engineering]], [[remote sensing]], [[astrophysics]], [[atmospheric sciences]], [[information science]], a Taiwanese [[Human spaceflight|manned spaceflight program]] and the deployment of [[Space weapon|space-based weapons]] for the defense of [[national security]] in [[Taiwan]] similar to [[NASA]] or [[DARPA]] and [[In-Q-Tel#Investments|In-Q-Tel]] with [[Google Earth]] in [[USA]].


NSPO headquarters and the main ground control station are in [[Hsinchu]], [[Taiwan]].
NSPO headquarters and the main ground control station are in [[Hsinchu]], [[Taiwan]].

Revision as of 11:57, 21 February 2017

National Space Organization
File:National Space Organization (Republic of China) (logo).png
NSPO logo
Agency overview
AbbreviationNSPO
FormedOctober 1991
April 1, 2005 (renamed)
TypeSpace agency
HeadquartersHsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan
AdministratorDr. Guey-Shin Chang (Director General)
Primary spaceportJiu Peng Air Base, Pingtung
OwnerTaiwan
Websitehttp://www.nspo.org.tw/
Taiwan Space Agency
Traditional Chinese國家太空中心
Simplified Chinese国家太空中心
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGuójiā Tàikōng Zhōngxīn
Tongyong PinyinGuó́jia Tàikong Jhongsin

The National Space Organization (NSPO; formerly known as the National Space Program Office) is the national civilian space agency of Taiwan under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan). NSPO is involved in the development of space exploration, satellite construction and development as well as related technologies and infrastructure (including the FORMOSAT series of Earth observation satellites) and related research in astronautics, quantum physics, materials science, aerospace engineering, remote sensing, astrophysics, atmospheric sciences, information science, a Taiwanese manned spaceflight program and the deployment of space-based weapons for the defense of national security in Taiwan similar to NASA or DARPA and In-Q-Tel with Google Earth in USA.

NSPO headquarters and the main ground control station are in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Taiwanese rocket launch program

The NSPO developed several suborbital launch vehicles based on the Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile. There have been six to seven launches as of 2010.

Mission Date Payload Result
SR-I December 15, 1998 None Successful first test flight.
SR-II October 24, 2001 Tri-Methyl Aluminum (TMA) Second stage ignition failure, mission lost
SR-III December 24, 2003 Tri-Methyl Aluminum (TMA) Mission successful
SR-IV December 14, 2004 Airglow photometer, GPS receiver Mission successful
SR-V January 15, 2006 Ion probe Mission successful
SR-VII May 10, 2010 Ion probe Mission successful[1]

Taiwanese Manned Spaceflight and Satellite Launch Vehicle Program

Little has been publicly revealed about the specification of the ROC (Taiwan)'s first launch vehicle for both Taiwanese astronauts and satellites (SLV) （小型發射載具). It should be able to place a 50 kg payload to a 500–700 km orbit (近地點/遠地點) with a 22.3 degrees inclination angle (軌道傾角偏差) and a tip-off rate (衛星入軌姿態) of less than 10 degrees per axis.[2] This SLV will be a major technological improvement based on existing sounding rockets and will consist of four solid propellant stages with two strap-on solid rocket boosters. Therefore, it will be in the same class of the Indian SLV-3. The inaugural launch is scheduled to take place during the second phase of the 2004-2018 space project (第二期太空計畫), placing a Taiwanese-made satellite into orbit and after the preparatory launches of 10 to 15 sounding rockets (探空火箭).[3]

Taiwanese designed and built satellites

FORMOSAT

Name derived from Formosa and satellite.

Others

  • YamSat: Series of picosatellites (volume 1000 cubic cm, weight roughly 850 grams) designed to carry out simple short duration spectroscopy missions.[4] Originally planned for launch in 2003 by a Russian launch vehicle but cancelled due to political pressure from the Russian government.[5]
  • Arase: JAXA mission to study the inner magnetosphere, launched 2016. Taiwan provided an instrument.

Planned missions

  • FORMOSAT-5: Optical earth observation and magnetic field research as a successor to the Japanese Reimei mission. Cooperation with Japan and Canada. Launch was originally planned for 2011,[6] now it is planned for 2017.[7]
  • FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2: Constellation of twelve small satellites to perform GPS occultation studies of the upper atmosphere. Collaborative project with U.S. agencies including NASA, NOAA and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, launch is planned for 2017 and 2019.[8]

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. The NSPO, the military, and Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology have also been working on the development of a sounding rocket 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, NSPO has been working with university research teams in developing innovative technology to improve the overall efficiency of hybrid rockets. 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 as of late 2007.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1] http://mepopedia.com/blog/index.php?/archives/2010/05/10.html 2010-10-05. Retrieved May 18, 2010
  2. ^ "小型發射载具性能". 虚幻天空. June 23, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2008. [dead link]
  3. ^ "台"太空计划"决定发展微卫星火箭发射载具". 中国日报网站. October 21, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  4. ^ YamSat Program, National Space Organization
  5. ^ YamSat 1A, 1B, 1C, space.skyrocket.de
  6. ^ "Plasma/particle instruments and Japan-Taiwan collaboration for the Geospace magnetosphere/ionosphere explorations" (PDF). Masafumi Hirahara. October 21, 2003. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  7. ^ FORMOSAT 5, space.skyrocket.de
  8. ^ FORMOSAT 7 / COSMIC-2, space.skyrocket.de
  9. ^ 太空中心升格為太空研究院？立委意見不一

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