The aeronautics and space technology is one of the most important cutting-edge research domains in the 21st century. In order to expand the international visibility of Taiwan’s FORMOSA set of satellites and raise the research capacity of earth observation and space information to the same level as that of advanced nations, teaming up proactively with other advanced research organizations is a must. On April 14th, President Ching-Hua Lo of NARLabs led a delegation to Japan to sign collaborative agreements with Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan (RESTEC) and Tokai University Research & Information Center (TRIC) individually. The agreements started from April 2014 until March 2019, a five-year term for a international research program collaborating closely on image processing technology.

RESTEC is an internationally renowned research center on satellite telemetry technology. It has been involving in the research, operation and training of satellite telemetry for more than 40 years. Since July 2013, NARLabs and RESTEC have engaged in a long-term cooperation. It includes building FORMOSAT-2 orthophoto as the main body, incorporating radar satellite image to monitor environment and do collaborative researches related to its applications to ecosystem and potential disaster, using some areas of Japan as actual examples. The key collaborative work items of the Joint Research Contract signed this time will be to use NARLabs’FORMOSAT-2 image to monitor the environment in Japan.

President Ching Hua Lo of NARLabs (right) and President Kaname Ikeda of RESTEC (left) signed JRC.

The image processing technology undertaken by TRIC already has outstanding achievements for its research, development, and applications to the domains of observing the earth’s environment in the areas of satellite information, space archaeology, and detection of cultural properties. Tokai University Space Information Center (TSIC) was founded under TRIC in 1986. This center is the first earth observation satellite data receiving station established in a university. Now TRIC and TSIC have collected and accumulated abundance of data for research and experience of researches on nature sciences, space earth observation, and data processing and analysis. Particularly, they are famous for the low-cost and high-efficient receiving antenna and data processing system developed and built on their own. The MOA signed this time is to collaborate on satellite image data reception and application.

President Ching-Hua Lo of NARLabs (right) and President Tatsuro Matsumae of Tokai University (left) signed MOA.

With this affiliation, it is expected that Japan image captured by FORMOSAT-2 will produce meaningful effects for environmental monitoring applications as well as satellite image data reception and applications. Combining the ascendancy from both organizations, it will enhance the total capability and capacity of earth observation and space data researches in NARLabs. This will thus bring Taiwan’s space technology into international arena, and strive for a bright future.