This was reported by local publication CNA, citing Taiwan’s space agency TASA, Ukrinform reported.

The launch took place at 22:37 local time on Sunday (9:37 am Taipei time on Monday) from a spaceport in French Guiana in northeastern South America. The satellite was launched into space by the French launch vehicle Vega C, which was designed to lift the spacecraft to an altitude of 550-650 kilometers above the Earth.

A few hours after launch, TASA reported that Triton had successfully entered a designated orbit at an altitude of 601 kilometers and made contact with the ground control station on the island.

Weighing 250 kilograms, Triton was the first meteorological satellite designed and manufactured in Taiwan with only Taiwanese components. In total, its design uses 11 key components and locally produced technologies related to satellites.

One of the features of the device is the use of Taiwan’s own Global Navigation Satellite Reflectometry System (GNSS-R) with a unique data processing module developed by local experts.

Work on the Triton project began a decade ago, in 2013, and its name is inspired by Greek mythology, in which Triton, son of Poseidon and god of the sea, inherited the trident symbolizing domination of the sea and possessed a shell with this power. Controlling the wind and waves.

The satellite’s main function will be to collect data on sea surface winds and supplement data from ground-based wind observation systems to more accurately predict the direction of typhoons and heavy rainfall.

TASA hopes the launch of the satellite will have a significant impact on Taiwan’s space capabilities and help the island become an exporter of important meteorological data.

Also during Triton’s operation, the Taiwan Space Agency plans to test a number of technologies in practice and collect data necessary for the development of the new spacecraft.

in 2017 Taiwan launched the first indigenously developed remote sensing satellite, FormoSat-5.

As reported by Ukrinform, Spanish company PLD Space conducted a test launch of the Miura-1 reusable carrier rocket from a field in southwestern Spain on Saturday, marking the first fully private rocket launch in Europe.