Taiwan Space Agency

Taiwan Space Agency (abbreviated TASA), formerly the National Space Organization (NSPO) from 1991 to 2023, is the national civilian space agency of Taiwan, under the auspices of the National Science and Technology Council. TASA is involved in the development of space technologies and related research.

Organization

thumb|TASA ground control station in 2019

thumb|TASA ground control station in 2023

thumb|Satellite Integration and Test Building in 2013

thumb|TASA research facility in 2025

thumb|TASA [[anechoic chamber with Formosat-8]]

TASA headquarters and the main ground control station are in Hsinchu. In April 2022, the Legislative Yuan passed a bill that upgraded the NSPO to a directly affiliated agency of the National Science and Technology Council, and renamed Taiwan Space Agency. The TASA is organized as follows:

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Director General's Office

| rowspan="8" |Engineering division

|Systems

|Electrical

|Mechanical

|Flight control

|Satellite operations control

|Satellite image

|Integration and test

|Product assurance

| rowspan="3" |Division

|Planning and promotion

|Administration

|Finance and accounting

| rowspan="3" |Program office

|Mission oriented projects

|Formosat 7

|Formosat 5

TASA also has numerous laboratories, such as:

System Simulation Laboratory
Thermal Control Laboratory
Microwave Communication Laboratory
Data Processing Laboratory
Attitude Determination and Control Laboratory
Electro-optics Laboratory
Structure Development Laboratory
Electrical Power Laboratory
Multi-layer Insulation (MLI) Laboratory

History

thumb|Model of [[Formosat-1]]

thumb|Model of [[FORMOSAT-2]]

thumb|Model of [[FORMOSAT-3]]

thumb|Artist's conception of [[FORMOSAT-5 in orbit]]

thumb|Model of [[FORMOSAT-7]]

1991

10/03<br>The Executive Yuan approved the "Space Technology Long Term (15 years) Developmental Program"; established National Space Program Office.

1994

09/09<br>Held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Satellite Integration & Test Building
09/30<br>Taiwanese seeds return from space
10/27<br>signs contract on collaboration with NanoAvionics

2023

The organization is placed under the direct oversight of the National Science and Technology Council and renamed the Taiwan Space Agency. The Chinese name was not changed.

2025

The agency selected a site in Pingtung County for the construction of Taiwan's National Launch Site.

In summer 2025 the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) ceased its involvement in the Taiwan Space Agency's 5G LEO communications satellite project saying that they had realized that satellites were outside of their area of expertise. ITRI was replaced by private firms.

In 2025 the National Taipei University of Technology partnered with the Taiwan Space Agency, Institute for Information Industry, and ITRI to offer a three year intensive program in satellite communications technology.

Taiwanese rocket launch program

thumb|Overhead view of the [[Hsu-hai Rocket Research Launch Site in 2025]]

thumb|[[TK-2 based sounding rocket launch in 2008 from Jiupeng Military Base]]

TASA developed sounding rocket based on the Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile with added booster. There have been 10 launches as of 2024, with 9 successful flights.

{| class="wikitable"

!Mission!!Date!!Payload!!Result

|SR-I||15 December 1998||None||Successful first test flight

|SR-VIII||5 June 2013||Hydrogen peroxide reaction control system, recovery capsule||Mission successful

Taiwanese designed and built satellites

Formosat (formerly ROCSAT)

The FORMOSAT (福爾摩沙衛星) name derived from Formosa and satellite (formerly ROCSAT (中華衛星), an abbreviation of Republic of China and satellite.

Formosat-1 (formerly ROCSAT-1): Communications and ionospheric research satellite, launched in January 1999.
Formosat-2 (formerly ROCSAT-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 US agencies including NASA, NOAA and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, launched in April 2006.
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, it was launched in 2017.
Formosat-6 was a micro satellite project, its development was cancelled.
Formosat-7 is a group of 6 satellites in low inclination orbits to provide meteorology data at low and mid latitudes. Launch took place in June 2019.
Triton, The FORMOSAT-7R (TRITON) is a micro-satellite designed and manufactured by NSPO. It is planned along with the FORMOSAT-7 program, thus it continues to use FORMOSAT serial number and subjoins a letter "R" for identification. Known as the "wind hunter" the satellite will measure sea winds and provide a supplement to the FORMOSAT-7 constellation. The name "Triton" is given due to its mission. Triton was launched on October 8, 2023, by Arianespace SA from the Kourou launch complex in French Guiana. The Triton satellite will be 87% Taiwanese made, an improvement from the Formosat-7's 78%.

Others

YamSat: Series of picosatellites (volume 1000 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 Russian government.
Arase: JAXA mission to study the inner magnetosphere, launched 2016. Taiwan provided an instrument.
RISESAT: microsatellite developed by Tohoku University, Japan, launched in 2019. Taiwan provided an instrument.
Flying Squirrel, developed by National Central University and launched in 2021.
Yushan, developed by MoGaMe Mobile Entertainment and launched in 2021.
Toro, developed by Pyras Technology. Cubesat with an optical sea surface temperature measurement payload. Launched in 2024 as part of the SpaceX Transporter-11 mission.
Nightjar, developed by Rapidtek Technologies. Cubesat with Ku-band internet of things communications payload. Launched in 2024 as part of the Transporter-11 mission. PARUS-T2 was launched to orbit in June 2025.
ONGLAISAT, ONboard Globe-Looking And Imaging Satellite, subesat developed in partnership with the University of Tokyo's Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory. Features an experimental off-axis optical system, experimental imaging sensor, and an experimental data compression system. Launched in November 2024. By summer 2025 it had accomplished its research goals. It orbits at 400 km and has a main sensor resolution of 2.5m.

Planned missions

Formosat-8, remote sensing satellite planned to follow Triton. It is the first astronomical satellite by TASA.
Nut, developed by National Formosa University. To be launched in June 2021. The third phase will see at least one satellite launched per year between 2019 and 2028.

In August 2019 Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency announced that they would consult with TASA on developing their own indigenous satellites.

In 2021 the Taiwanese legislature passed the Space Development Promotion Act which is meant to incentivize increased private sector participation in space industries.