Triton, Taiwan’s first locally built weather satellite, is provisionally scheduled to launch on March 10, 2023, National Space Organization (NSPO) Director Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) said Monday.
Wu made the announcement during a visit to the NSPO’s Hsinchu headquarters by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), in which Su checked on the current state of progress in the satellite’s construction.
During the visit, Wu said the Triton, which will primarily be used for sea surface observation, represents “a new milestone” in the development of Taiwan’s space industry.
“Eighty-two percent of the Triton satellite’s parts and components were locally designed and manufactured, in a process that involved collaboration with over 20 Taiwanese companies,” Wu said.
After being fully equipped, Triton — also known as “Wind Hunter” (獵風者) in Chinese — will undergo testing before its planned launch on March 10, 2023 at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, he said.
Su, meanwhile, touted the government’s efforts to develop Taiwan’s space industry, which he said would help it progress toward the goal of joining the nine nations able to independently launch spacecraft.
While Taiwan is currently not in this group, it already has many of the necessary capabilities for producing rockets and satellites, such as its advanced semiconductor, ICT and precision machinery industries, he said.
“I hope that in the near future, Taiwan will be able to defend itself from space, and will have a seat at the table” among spacefaring nations, Su added.
There are currently nine countries and one international organization that can independently launch spacecraft into orbit: China, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Russia, North Korea, South Korea, the United States, and the European Space Agency.
Triton will be Taiwan’s first locally built weather satellite and its second indigenous satellite overall, following the earth observation satellite Formosat-5, which was launched in 2017.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel