Domestic Siraya rocket to take off in 4 years at the earliest
2022/10/01 05:30
Taiwan will launch its national “Siraya rocket project” 「西拉雅火箭計畫」 next year, and if the funding is supported by the Legislative Yuan, it will be possible to send the entire home-made, self-launch and independently tested rocket to space in 2026 at the earliest!
If the project goes well, it will be the first time that Taiwan achieves the milestone of self-made rocket, self-launch, and independent testing of space components.
TASA (Taiwan Space Agency) to be reorganized as an administrative corporation next year
The Taiwan Space Agency will be reorganized as an administrative corporation next year, and Wu Zongxin, known as “The Father of Taiwan’s Rocketry”, signed a memorandum of cooperation with NTU Cancer Hospital on behalf of the space center yesterday.
In an interview after the meeting, Wu pointed out that the “Siraya rocket project” 「西拉雅火箭計畫」 is to send the space components that need to be tested to space through the rocket, and all the components, materials and manufacturing processes of the rocket will be built by Taiwan.
The National Space Launch Center may be in Dongping
According to the Space Development Act, the space center must be responsible for building the national launch site. The site selection committee’s composition and site selection criteria have also been established, including the need to consider nearly 10 factors such as traffic, size, and whether there are residents within a one- to two-kilometer radius of the site.
The site will be selected through a committee using scientific data.
The project will be completed in Taiwan," Wu said, "and there will be no foreign assistance for this kind of project.
Compared to Korea’s World rocket project, which began in 2010 and was successfully launched in June this year at a total cost of about NT$45.2 billion, he predicted that Taiwan’s Siraya rocket project would cost less than Korea’s and have a shorter timeline.
If the Siraya rocket project is successfully implemented, it is expected to complement the last piece of “launch services”, “satellite manufacturing”, “ground equipment” and “back-end applications” in Taiwan’s satellite industry.
As for the name of the project, why is it named “Siraya”? Wu said, "Siraya is the name of the Pingpu tribe in Taiwan, and its main area of activity was in the Chianan Plain, with the connotation of sending Taiwan’s Mother Earth into space.
The Pingtung Xuhai Scientific Research Rocket Launch Site is currently the only site in Taiwan and is small.
The site of the national launch site to be built by the space center may be in Pingtung or Taitung.
1
2
