AAS 97-697

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE SPACE ACTIVITIES IN TAIWAN

J. Chern - Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of China

Abstract

In the Republic of China, the first organization which has been working on the space science research since about 20 years ago is the Space Telemetry and Remote Sensing Centre of the National Central University located in Chungli, Taiwan. Then in 1991, the National Space Program Office (NSPO) was founded and started to operate. Under the co-operation with TRW of the United States, the first satellite of the Republic of China, ROCSAT 1, has been built and delivered back to Hsinchu, Taiwan for system integration and test. The scheduled launch time is either late 1998 or early 1999, and the launch site will be Cape Canaveral, USA. There are several other organizations which have space related activities such as ground station operation, micro-satellite development, and astrodynamics research. This paper will give a brief introduction to the National Space Program and Space activities in the Republic of China.