Taiwan-made PARUS-T2 CubeSat launched into space orbit

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) A CubeSat designed and made by the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) was sent into space early Tuesday morning (Taiwan time), carried by a SpaceX Transporter-14 rocket launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, TASA said in a statement.

The satellite, PARUS-T2, was launched at 5:25 a.m. and positioned in low-earth orbit at an altitude of 621 kilometers about 136 minutes after the launch, TASA said.

It connected with an overseas earth station two hours after positioning in orbit and is expected to connect with Taiwan's earth station at 10 p.m. Tuesday, said TASA.

A Cube satellite, or CubeSat, is a miniaturized satellite made up of multiple cubic modules measuring 10 cubic centimeters.

The PARUS-T2, a CubeSat measuring 30*10*10 cm, is based on the PARUS-T1, which was sent into orbit on Jan. 15, 2025, but with improvements in its satellite computer, power control system, satellite battery, and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver.

It has a new deployment mechanism to unfold its solar panel and is equipped with an altitude determination and control system (ADCS) developed by Taiwanese company Tensor Tech.

It also carries a communication payload and an automatic packet reporting system (APRS) payload, both made in Taiwan, according to TASA.

The CubeSat's primary 12-month mission is to verify the satellite's performance, with the goal of improving the reliability of TASA-developed CubeSats.

Once their reliability is confirmed, TASA is hoping to develop a stable supply of CubeSats for commercial and academic use, ultimately boosting Taiwan's global competitiveness in the space industry, it said.

The PARUS project was named after Taiwan's indigenous bird Sittiparus castaneoventris, or chestnut-bellied tit, with hopes that domestically made satellites can fly high into the sky, TASA said.

The next PARUS CubeSat, PARUS-6U1, will be launched in October by SpaceX Transporter-15, TASA said.