Taiwan launches first locally made weather satellite with ‘groundbreaking’ navigation system
- Triton was sent into space on Sunday and will provide observations over ocean areas prone to extreme weather
- It marks a milestone in the island’s efforts to catch up with global players in space programme development
“The mission was successful … and Triton is expected to pass over Taiwan for the first time about 680 minutes after it entered orbit,” Wu Jong-shinn, director general of the Taiwan Space Agency, said on Monday.
The satellite, which is also known as Wind Hunter, lifted off from a launch site in French Guiana, carried by the Vega C – Arianespace’s new-generation vehicle for small- to medium-sized satellite payloads. It is travelling in a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 550km to 650km.
The launch had been planned for Saturday but was called off 14 seconds before ignition due to concerns over certain monitoring data, Wu said. It was then cleared and rescheduled for Sunday evening.
Taiwan is hit by typhoons every year and Wu said the satellite would be able to help weather forecasters accurately predict the intensity of a storm by tracking wind speeds through the data it gathers.
