Lilium-1 takes Taiwan's first satellite selfies

Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) released two selfies taken by Lilium-1, an NCKU-developed CubeSat satellite, on Wednesday.

The selfies, the first to be taken by a Taiwanese satellite, showed Lilium-1 passing over Australia facing the sun with its solar panels unfolded.

Carried by a SpaceX rocket, Lilium-1 was successfully launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California into a low Earth orbit (LEO) of about 520 kilometers above Earth on Dec. 2 last year, NCKU said in a statement released Wednesday.

Lilium-1 was the first satellite to be launched as part of a National Science and Technology Council project that is focused on researching and developing key CubeSat technologies, NCKU said in the statement, adding that a team consisting of NCKU, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan University of Technology, Tamkang University, as well as industry professionals, collaborated in the development of Lilium-1.

The team will continue to work on developing and launching CubeSats Lilium-2 and Lilium-3, which will explore areas including high-frequency satellite communication, inter-satellite communication, and smart remote sensing. The team will also set up ground stations and platforms for validating and testing Internet of Things devices, NCKU said.

According to NCKU, LEO satellites have become increasingly popular because they are close enough to Earth, which allows for good reception in areas normally not covered by mobile networks.

LEO satellites also have low costs and low latency, and are mainly used for communications and as observation tools for the environment and weather, NCKU said.