On the New Trend of Space Research in Science: Research on Microsatellites of NCU Caught Global Attention
The editorial “Space, Still the Final Frontier” on the world-renowned scientific journal Science published in July 2018 discussed the new trend of space science development from huge satellites to small ones, taking as an example the International Satellite Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE), in which National Central University in Taiwan was involved.
“A small satellite may make a huge breakthrough!” said Dr. Loren Chang, Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Space Science (GISS) of NCU and Organizer of the INSPIRE program. Cube satellites (CubeSat) have mushroomed in recent years, which indicates that the satellite industry does not have to be led by country-level institutions or massive national defense and space industry contractors. In academia, CubeSat can help cultivate a new generation of talents in space technology. The relatively low launch costs can create more opportunities for space exploration and equipment improvement, initiating a brand new era of the space industry.
“Space technology is like the miniature of computer technology, developing towards the aspects of lightness, thinness, shortness and smallness. I am excited to see the day is coming. NCU has a profound history and foundations in the field of space science and possesses a strong ambition. We hope to establish a vertically-integrated system ranging from the design of satellites, scientific payloads, ground-target tracking control, to data analysis. I am confident that we could complete all these by ourselves and continue to run such a system,” said Dr. Jann-Yenq Liu, Chair Professor at the GISS, NCU.
“NCU has been dedicated to space science for 28 years and we play a leading role in the field of space science in Taiwan. This year, supported by the ‘Higher Education Deep Plowing Program’ under the Ministry of Education, we founded the Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering, which was the fruit of our excellent research performance,” stated Dr. Chi-Kuang Chao, Director of the GISS at NCU.
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