Taiwan Space Agency

The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), established in 2023 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is Taiwan's national space agency — created by upgrading and renaming the National Space Organization (NSPO, founded 1991) — responsible for developing Taiwan's space capabilities, operating the FORMOSAT series of Earth observation and scientific satellites, building indigenous satellite manufacturing capacity, and supporting the development of Taiwan's commercial space industry.

Taiwan's space heritage is anchored by the FORMOSAT program: FORMOSAT-1 (1999) was a science satellite for ionospheric research; FORMOSAT-2 (2004) was Taiwan's first Earth observation satellite providing 2-meter resolution imagery that served commercial, government, and disaster response markets; FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (2006, a six-satellite constellation jointly developed with NOAA and UCAR) pioneered GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) for weather forecasting and atmospheric profiling, a technique now used globally in numerical weather prediction models.

FORMOSAT-5 (2017) was Taiwan's first domestically designed and manufactured Earth observation satellite with 2-meter resolution. FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (2019, a follow-on 6-satellite GPS-RO constellation with NOAA) provides tropical atmosphere GPS-RO sounding data critical for typhoon track and intensity forecasting in the Western Pacific.

TASA's current programs include the FORMOSAT-8 constellation — a planned series of small optical Earth observation satellites providing sub-1-meter resolution with improved revisit frequency — and development of small satellite bus technologies suitable for commercial constellation markets. Taiwan's precision manufacturing industry, semiconductor expertise, and established aerospace component supply chains position TASA and domestic companies to participate in global satellite supply chains.

Taiwan's geopolitically sensitive relationship with China limits some international cooperation options but Taiwan maintains active partnerships with NASA, NOAA, ESA, and international universities under its established scientific collaboration framework.