NSPO logo |
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| Owner | Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Established | October 1991 April 1, 2005 (renamed) |
| Headquarters | Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan |
| Primary spaceport | Jiu Peng Air Base, Pingtung |
| Administrator | Dr. Guey-Shin Chang (Director General) |
| Website | http://www.nspo.org.tw/ |
The National Space Organization (traditional Chinese: 國家太空中心; simplified Chinese: 国家太空中心; Tongyong Pinyin: Guó́jia Tàikong Jhongsin; Hanyu Pinyin: Guójiā Tàikōng Zhōngxīn ) (NSPO, formerly known as the National Space Program Office) is the civilian space agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the auspices of the Executive Yuan's National Science Council. 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 aerospace engineering, remote sensing, astrophysics, atmospheric science, information science, space weapons and defense of national security in the Republic of China.
NSPO headquarters and the main ground control station are in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
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Indigenously developed suborbital launch vehicle based upon the Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile. Six to seven launches as of 2010.
| Mission | Date | Payload | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SR-I | 12/15/1998 | None | Successful first test flight. |
| SR-II | 10/24/2001 | Tri-Methyl Aluminum (TMA) | Second stage ignition failure, mission lost |
| SR-III | 12/24/2003 | Tri-Methyl Aluminum (TMA) | Mission successful |
| SR-IV | 12/14/2004 | Airglow photometer, GPS receiver | Mission successful |
| SR-V | 1/15/2006 | Ion probe | Mission successful |
| SR-VII | 5/10/2010 | Ion probe | Mission successful [1] |
Little has been publicly revealed about the specification of the ROC's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (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 an upgrade 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 an indigenously-made satellite into orbit and after the preparatory launches of 10 to 15 sounding rockets （探空火箭）.[3]
The first phase of the ROC'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. NSPO and the military 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, and 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.
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.[8]
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