SpaceX and the civil space agency of Taiwan have signed a contract for the 2013 launch of an Earth-observation satellite from the company's Omelek Island launch site in the Pacific Ocean.The National Space Organization's Formosat-5 will be used to continue the image data service for civilian users and may also carry instruments to conduct space research and scientific experiments for the Republic of China.
NSPO is involved in satellite construction and development as well as related research, technologies and infrastructure, With Formosat-5, NSPO aims to build up capabilities for independent development of spacecraft and payload instruments.
“The launch of Formosat-5 will build on the successful launch and operation of the FORMOSAT satellites, “ said H.P. Chang, Formosat-5 Program Manager of NSPO. “SpaceX’s approach to launch services is very well-aligned with our goals and objectives for the program—we are very pleased to partner with them on this launch.”
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company now has more than 40 flights on its manifest and "is positioned to deliver launch services across the increasingly varied needs of our commercial and government customers."
Formosat-5 is slated to launch as early as December 2013 from SpaceX’s launch site on Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.
15 comments:
Awesome. So if Obama gets his way, our space program will be connected with China. That's just awesome. Yeah, that's a stretch, but would you have thought it even remotely possible a few years ago? Do people see what's going on here? It's not just NASA this administration is destroying.
Mark, this would've have happened even if McCain was elected. Stop drinking so much Kool-aid, you are spilling it all over the place.
Couldn't have said it better: "Do people see what's going on here? It's not just NASA this administration is destroying."!
This is EXACTLY what I predicted would happen with privatized space exploration. There is NOTHING to keep these companies from taking their operations overseas. This is a little faster than I had expected, but I knew it would happen eventually. Not only will this "change" NOT keep jobs in Florida, it won't even keep them in the United States!
Thanks, Mr. President. You're just another liar in a suit. Time to clean house and dump the liars and losers from BOTH parties.
The first NSPO spacecraft was launched by a rocket (LLV-1) built by Lockheed Missiles & Space (LMSC). It was launched from Cape Canaveral. LMSC spent its own money to develop LLV-1. Launch was successful. Point is: USA has been working with Taiwan for many years.
On a side note, if they could man rate SpaceX, perhaps they could subcontract with the Russians to launch Soyuz capsules with American astronuats to the Space Station. Not too far fetched......
Connecting w/ Nationalist China (ROC,Chinese Taipei, etc., etc.) isn't so bad. Don't get your Chinas confused, or they might clash.
Mark, everything you use is built in CHina (PROC) and here Chnese (ROC) pay an American company for services. So what gives. Too much Obama hating to keep thoughts clear?
Gerhard, Austria
It called sharing the wealth. Remember Change you can believe will ruin your idea of american life! Using hard earned NASA resources to launch communism into space.
"There is NOTHING to keep these companies from taking their operations overseas."
Omelek Island is US territory.
"Using hard earned NASA resources to launch communism into space."
SpaceX is a private company. There are no NASA resouces involved.
StinkierGreen, how do you know McCain would have not extended the shuttle program, let alone cancel Constellation? To say McCain would have done the same is absurd. You have no idea. What I DO know is that our manned space program is getting ripped apart. I don't care who is president while this is going on. The fact is communism is leaking into this country. (And yes, I do know the difference between China and the Chinese Taipei.)
I honestly never though it would involve our space program so fast, but the seeds are being sowed. We have time to stop this, as some people in our government with clear vision and awareness are trying to do, but time is running out. Tell all the jokes you want with cute Kool-Aid comments, and come back tell me what you see in a few years. It's very, very scary how blind and trusting some people are. Have you ever heard of defensive driving? This is defensive living, and it is vital in today's America.
So in the bizzaro world of CxP huggers, capitalism is communism and progress by an American rocket company is somehow destroying HSF.
Check your irony at the door.
Please do not allow our companies to export their services. This would decrease the trade deficit and give me less to gripe about. Please do not allow business deals with governments that are bastions of democracy in the shadow of communism because I am not sure of the difference between the two.
It only goes to show how blindly these Tea Partiers and Repubs follow the Becks and Limbaughs. Clear your mind and think for yourself for a few minutes and you'll realize that your liberties aren't going away, no more so than when Bush started evesdropping on average citizens, and you can keep your guns, because no one is coming to take them from you. You can stop stocking up for the revolution because it's all in your head and the communist scourge that didn't show up when Franklin Roosevelt was president won't show up now either.
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