TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's first self-made weather satellite, Triton, successfully launched from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on Monday. The launch on Arianespace's Vega Flight VV23 unfolded at 9:36 a.m. Taiwan time.
Initially scheduled for an Oct. 7 launch, the Triton's departure was delayed due to an anomaly during the initial countdown. Arianespace rescheduled for Oct. 9 during the same time slot.
The Taiwan Space Agency said Triton, equipped with a locally developed Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R), is the country's first domestically produced weather satellite.
Triton's main task is calculating wind speeds by receiving signals reflected off the sea surface from the global navigation satellite system.
GNSS-R is a new scientific technology developed within the last decade. It is not easily affected by cloud cover and can always observe conditions to improve typhoon intensity and route predictions.
Triton's observational range covers the globe, primarily focusing on the low-latitude bands of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans, regions known for severe weather.