ROCSAT-1 Lifts Off

At 8:34 on the morning of January 27 (Taipei time), an Athena rocket launched from Patrick Air Force Base in Florida carried ROCSAT-1 into space. The satellite entered orbit at 9:40 a.m., and sent its first transmission to the mission control center in Hsinchu at 11:15 a.m.

Forty-eight hours later, Lockheed Martin, which was responsible for the launch, turned over control of the satellite to the ROC, moving Taiwan's space program into its next phase. On each day of the satellite's four-year functional life, it will orbit the Earth 14.9 times and transmit new data to the Taiwan control center six to seven times.

The satellite project began in June 1994, when the ROC commissioned the US firm TRW to build ROCSAT-1. The ROC then selected 28 technicians to go to the US to observe the design and construction. The ROC also requested that TRW transfer the technology necessary to build some of the components. Local firms such as Acer, TranSystems Inc. and Shihlin Electronics then became involved, building the satellite's onboard computer, its remote interface unit and its solar power panels, respectively.

With the launch of ROCSAT-1, not only has the local scientific community's ability to design and build a satellite been demonstrated, but a pathway may also have been opened for local industry to venture into the field of satellite technology.

The primary objective of the ROCSAT-1 mission is scientific research. The satellite carries three payloads: an ocean color imager (which will send down images for both practical and academic use) which was jointly designed and built by the ROC and the Japanese company NEC; a satellite communications experiments payload; and an ionospheric plasma and electrodynamics instrument developed in conjunction with the University of Texas at Dallas which will provide important data on factors affecting electronic communications.

Although the content and extremely high cost of the ROC's space program have on occasion raised eyebrows, with the smooth launch of ROCSAT-1, the program has taken its first step. Taiwan now has the necessary foundation in satellite design and construction technology to continue its space program. ROCSAT-1 will be followed by ROCSAT-2 and ROCSAT-3. The former, which German aerospace firm Dornier has already been contracted to build, will be used as a "resource detector," while the latter will be used for weather forecasting. Both are scheduled to be launched in 2002.