National Space Organization

National Space Organization

NSPO logo
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.

Sounding rocket program

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]

SLV 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]

Satellites

FORMOSAT

• 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 and the National Center 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.^{[citation needed]}

• 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 is planned for 2011.^[5]

• FORMOSAT-7/Cosmic II: Constellation of twelve small satellites to perform GPS occultation studies of the upper atmosphere. Collaborative project with U.S. agencies including NASA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, launch is planned for 2014 and 2017.^[6][7]

Developments & long term plans

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]

References

1. ^ [1] http://mepopedia.com/blog/index.php?/archives/2010/05/10.html 2010-10-05. Retrieved 18 May 2010
2. ^ "小型發射载具性能". 虚幻天空. 2008-06-23. http://www.war-sky.com/forum/attachment/Day_080624/18_136950_2578c0c3977d961.jpg. 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. 2003-10-21. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/gb/doc/2003-10/21/content_273967.htm. Retrieved June 26, 2008. 
4. ^ "JAXA Update". JAXA. 2010. http://ilwsonline.org/JAXA_ILWS2010.pdf. Retrieved 6 Feb. 2011. 
5. ^ "Plasma/particle instruments and Japan-Taiwan collaboration for the Geospace magnetosphere/ionosphere explorations". Masafumi Hirahara. 2003-10-21. http://www.pssc.ncku.edu.tw/FISFES/Presentation/FISFES_2008-11(Hirahara).pdf. Retrieved 5 June 2009. 
6. ^ http://www.nspo.org.tw/2008e/news/news_content.php?id=000324%7Cpublisher=NSPO%7Cdate=2010-08-17
7. ^ http://www.uni-graz.at/opac2010/pdf_presentation/opac_2010_yen_nick_presentation49.pdf
8. ^ 太空中心升格為太空研究院？立委意見不一

External links

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