Taiwan Drops India to Launch ROCSAT 2 on Taurus

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Taiwan Drops India to Launch ROCSAT 2 on Taurus

More Information:

The Republic of China's National Space Program Office (NSPO) [Taiwan] selected the Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus rocket to launch the ROCSAT 2 remote sensing satellite in 2003. Neither party disclosed the value of the award, which is subject to final contract execution.

Taiwan had contracted with India to launch ROCSAT 2, but has cancelled the contract because of pressure from the United States. The United States insisted that Taiwan respect a United Nations ban imposed on India. Under the UN embargo, India has been banned from imports of high-tech products and parts for violating the international nuclear weapons proliferation treaty.

Orbital will provide the higher-performance XL version of the Taurus rocket. The Taurus XL incorporates the first and second stages of the Pegasus XL vehicle as compared to the original Taurus configuration, which incorporates the first and second stages of a standard Pegasus rocket.

The primary objective of the ROCSAT 2 (ROC Satellite No. 2) satellite mission is to observe and monitor the terrestrial and marine environment and natural resources throughout Taiwan, its remote islands and surrounding ocean for civil applications. In addition, the ROCSAT 2 satellite also carries a 'Sprites Imager' scientific instrument to study the electrodynamical coupling between thunderclouds and the upper atmosphere by taking images of lightening discharges.

The 700 kg (1543 lbm) satellite will be placed in a 890 km (480 nmi) sun-synchronous orbit with a 98.99 degree inclination. It is planned for a 5 year mission.

The US$75 million (2.37 billion Taiwan dollars) ROCSAT 2 program was approved in Oct 1997. NPSO has signed a contract with France's Matra Marconi Space on November 29, 1999, to build the ROCSAT 2 satellite, after canceling a contract with a German consortium because of pressure from mainland China. Matra Marconi Space is responsible for the satellite's payload and bus, with the rest of the project to be completed by six Taiwanese companies, including Acer, Tatung, Shihlin Electric & Engineering and Tay Yung Engineering Co. to supply components such as flight software, S-band antennae and other computer equipment for the project. ROCSAT 2 will be the first application for Matra Marconi’s standard small satellite bus, Leostar. Matra Marconi Space was the losing bidder in the original round, and has been able to secure French government approval for an export sale.

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace’s Dornier Satelliten unit had won a bid to build ROCSAT 2 for Taiwan's National Space Program February 8, 1999. However, the company was forced to back out of the contract on November 5, 1999, when the German government refused to grant an export permit for satellite-related technology to Taiwan. The US$600,000 deposit was returned to the Taiwanese government. Matra Marconi Space and Dornier Satelliten are now both part of Astrium.

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June 15, 2001