TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Space Agency reviewed three months of imaging data from the “Onglaisat” satellite jointly developed with Japan, verifying the deployment of self-developed technology such as an optical system and imaging sensor.

TASA's announcement on Wednesday comes after 50 imaging operations were downloaded and analyzed. This paves the way for the technology to be deployed on a larger scale on future satellites.

Three major technical tasks were achieved: production of a Korsch-type off-axis optical system, a CMOS time delay and integration image sensor, and on-orbit JPEG 2000 image compression. TASA was responsible for producing the imaging technology while the University of Tokyo provided the cube satellite, arranging its launch and control.

Project leader Chan Chen-yu (詹鎮宇) said the financial cost of operating a cube satellite is relatively low, making it suitable for experimental technologies.  

Chan said the design and manufacture of a Korsch-type off-axis optical system was a difficult challenge. He also had praise for the CMOS TDI image sensor developed by the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Center associated with the National Applied Research Laboratories.

Additionally, the on-orbit image compression technology used by the cube satellite efficiently utilized satellite storage and downlink bandwidth. The cube satellite utilizes multipoint communication, allowing for data to be downloaded by the University of Tokyo, National Central University, and TASA.

TASA pointed out that due to the cube satellite’s low orbital altitude and the intensity of the sun, the mission is expected to end in March 2025.