TAIWAN SATELLITE PROGRAM UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L AIT TAIPEI 000213

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NP/ECNP CHRIS KESSLER; DEPT OF COMMERCE FOR NOAA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2012
TAGS: TSPA PREL ETTC KSCA CVIS TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN SATELLITE PROGRAM UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

REF: A. 07 TAIPEI 01248

B. 07 TAIPEI 0239

Classified By: Economic Section Chief Hanscom Smith for reasons 1.4 B/D


1. (C) SUMMARY. On February 12, AIT officers visited the
National Space Program Office (NSPO) and met with the
newly-appointed director Miau Jiun-jih to discuss current and
future plans at NSPO. Miau emphasized that the follow-on to
the Formosat-2 remote sensing satellite was the top priority,
followed by a replacement for the Formosat-3 meteorological
satellite. Miau hopes to establish a joint program with NOAA
on the latter. NSPO staff also expressed hope that the visa
clearance process could be shortened to enable them to attend
scientific meetings on time. END SUMMARY

REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE PRIORITY ONE
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2. (C) Since January 1, Miau has taken over an institution
which over the past year has been plagued with a slashed
budget as well as allegations of corruption and confidential
data leakage (reftels). In spite of the setbacks, Miau, a
graduate of Brown with a doctorate in mechanical engineering
who still teaches at the Aerospace Science and Technology
Research Center at Cheng-kung University in Tainan, said his
top priority is to develop a follow-on remote sensing
satellite to replace Formosat-2, an aging French-built
satellite operated by NSPO which has been providing 2-meter
resolution imagery to global users through the French firm
SPOT IMAGE. Miau hopes to be able to launch a remote sensing
satellite with locally developed hardware by 2011. Because
the Formosat-2 follow-on satellite will be NSPO's first
remote sensing satellite design, he said NSPO will aim for a
remote sensing resolution of 2.5 meters rather than
Formosat-2's two-meter capability. NSPO and other NARL
institutes are designing the satellite, which will be
locally-built as much as possible. Miau hoped to be able to
launch using a U.S. platform, as in Formosat-3 case in 2006
(Note: Formosat-3 was launched from Vandenberg AFB in
California. End note).

HOPE TO TEAM UP WITH NOAA ON WEATHER SATELLITE
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3. (C) As for the future, Miau said NSPO is already looking
to develop a replacement for Formosat-3, the cluster of six
meteorological satellites which have been collecting data on
the ionosphere since its launch in May 2006. Although he
said some of the mini-satellites had been out of touch for 67
days due to their solar positioning, all of them are back in
business. He said the USAF was aiming at real time data
acquisition from the ionosphere, which currently Formosat-3
is not able to provide. He believed that Taiwan's expertise
in nanotechnology can be used to build micro-satellites for
the Formosat-3 follow-on (F3FO) project. A stated long term
goal is to build their own launch vehicle based on technology
embodied in NSPO's sounding rocket (Note: The sounding rocket
payload capacity is currently 150 kilograms, limiting the
size and weight of the payload. End note). NSPO is hoping to
partner with U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
affiliate, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
(UCAR) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) to
fund the F3FO project.

CONCERN ABOUT OBTAINING VISAS FOR STAFF TRAVEL
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4. (C) On internal management issues, Miau was optimistic
that the problems encountered in the past would gradually be
surmounted, although he said the 2007 budget cuts will most
likely take 3-5 years to overcome. Miau also stated that
NSPO's five-year plan submitted in late 2007 reflected
reduced funding. He was optimistic that if NSPO is able to
present a sound proposal, then its parent organization, the
National Applied Research Labs (NARL) and the National
Science Council (NSC) would be able to provide funding
without difficulty.



5. (C) NSPO staff also complained to AIT officers about
visa issuance delays connected with the clearance process
(visas Mantis) and hoped that their personnel would be able
to attend all meetings without delays in the future. ESTH
officer informed them that visa processing requirements are
set in Washington and advised them to apply for visas well in
advance of anticipated travel. At the end of the meeting,
AIT officers told Miau that AIT wished to continue to work
closely with NSPO as it had in the past and thanked them for
their update on their satellite programs.


COMMENT
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6. (C) Unlike his predecessor Lance Wu, Miau appears to be
much more a hands-on scientist than a wheeler dealer and is
relying on the experts at NSPO to guide him in the initial
stages. However, he will need to be politically savvy if he
is to ensure continued Legislative Yuan funding for his
satellite projects, since the LY exercises an oversight role
over the NSPO. After the fiasco of the last year, the NARL
and NSC, NSPO's parent agencies, will most likely play a more
active role in managing NSPO. End comment.
WANG