National Space Organization

The National Space Organization (NSPO; formerly known as the National Space Program Office) is the national 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, a future Taiwanese manned space program and the deployment of space-based weapons for the defense of national security in the ROC.

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

Taiwanese rocket launch program

Indigenously developed suborbital launch vehicle based upon the Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile. Six to seven launches as of 2010.

Satellite launch vehicle program

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]

Taiwanese designed and built satellites

FORMOSAT

Name derived from Formosa and satellite.

• FORMOSAT-1: Communications and ionospheric research satellite, launched in January 1999.
• FORMOSAT-2: Ionospheric research and surface mapping satellite, launched May 2004.
• FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC: Constellation of six microsatellites 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, launched in April 2006.

Others

• YamSat: Series of picosatellites (volume 10 cubic cm, weight roughly 850 grams) designed to carry out simple short duration spectroscopy missions. Originally planned for launch in 2003 by a Russian launch vehicle but cancelled due to political pressure from the PRC.
• Sprint-B/ERG: JAXA mission to study the inner-magnetosphere. Taiwan will provide an instrument. Launch is planned for 2014-2015.^[4]

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.;^[5] now it's expected to happen in 2014, see 2014 in spaceflight.
• 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 2016 and 2018.^[6][7][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. 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.

Since 2009, NSPO has been working with university research teams in developing innovative solutions 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]

A future Taiwanese manned space program is currently in the development stage and designed to compete directly with the manned space programs of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Japan, United States of America, Russia and Europe.

References

External links

• NSPO website
• GlobalSecurity article on Taiwan's space program
• Encyclopedia Astronautica - Taiwan