TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan is advancing its space capabilities with plans to launch two sophisticated synthetic-aperture radar (SAR, 合成孔徑雷達) satellites, designated FORMOSAT-9 (福爾摩沙衛星九號), in 2028 and 2030 as part of a strategic initiative to bolster the island’s surveillance of both territorial lands and surrounding waters. The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA, 國家太空中心), the island nation’s primary space research and development organization, unveiled these ambitious plans during a legislative briefing on Wednesday (Jun 18), highlighting a key advantage of the SAR technology: its unparalleled ability to penetrate cloud cover and capture high-resolution images regardless of weather conditions — a critical feature for Taiwan, where persistent cloud coverage often hampers conventional optical satellite imaging. Read More at TVBS
