Taiwan launches first locally made weather satellite with ‘groundbreaking’ navigation system

Taiwan has achieved a significant milestone in its space programme development by launching its first locally made weather satellite, Triton. The satellite was launched on French commercial launcher Arianespace’s Vega C rideshare mission, more than three decades after Beijing launched its first weather probe. Wu Jong-shinn, the director general of the Taiwan Space Agency, confirmed the mission's success and stated that Triton is expected to pass over Taiwan for the first time about 680 minutes after it entered orbit. The satellite, also known as Wind Hunter, was launched from a site in French Guiana and is travelling in a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 550km to 650km. The initial launch was planned for Saturday but was postponed due to concerns over certain monitoring data. It was then rescheduled and successfully launched on Sunday evening. The Triton satellite is designed to provide observations over ocean areas prone to extreme weather. Taiwan, which is hit by typhoons annually, will benefit from the satellite's ability to help weather forecasters accurately predict the intensity of a storm by tracking wind speeds through the data it gathers. The satellite employs an advanced technology developed by Taiwan’s space agency and local scientists, known as Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry. This system measures ocean wind speed through reflections from the sea surface, a technology that is used by only a few places in the world. Triton will work in conjunction with the six meteorological satellites Taiwan currently has in low-Earth orbit to provide more precise weather forecasts of typhoon paths and heavy rainfall. More than 80 per cent of the new satellite’s technology was developed by Taiwan, demonstrating the island’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of space exploration. Wu Jong-shinn stated that the satellite’s navigation system would provide substantial support for Taiwan becoming a player in the global space supply chain. However, he acknowledged that Taiwan still lags behind in space development, citing South Korea as an example, which began its programme in the early 1990s and now has a budget four to five times larger than Taiwan’s. Taiwan’s space development programme stands at NT$5. 5 billion (US$171. 1 million) for this year. Taiwan’s focus is on satellites rather than rockets, and the island is seeking to make significant progress in this area in the next three to five years. Despite these advancements, the government has been criticised for failing to provide adequate funding for the space agency and scientists to develop the programme. While Triton is Taiwan’s first weather satellite, it is the second probe to be made in Taiwan. The first was an Earth observation satellite called FormoSat-5, which was launched in 2017 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite was designed to capture colour and monochrome images and measure plasma in the Earth’s ionosphere. The Taiwanese launch comes two months after Beijing launched its latest weather satellite, the Fengyun-3F, from the Gobi Desert. The satellite, launched by a Long March 4C rocket, is equipped with advanced technology and replaced the Fengyun-3C, which had been operating for nearly a decade, according to the China National Space Administration. Beijing has launched 22 of the weather satellites since 1988.