A Plan and Its Current Status for Taiwanese Moon Exploration: A Lunar Orbiter

摘要

"The Third Phase of the National Space Science and Technology Development Long-term Plan", referred to as "Phase III National Space Program", was approved by the Taiwan government in 2019. The entire time period of Phase III National Space Program covers a decade starting from 2019. One of the main goals for this ten-year space program is to carry out the outer space exploration. The development of outer space exploration will be based on the space science and technology foundation established by Taiwan's previous two long-term plans (Phases I and II) with durations of 1991-2006 and 2004-2018, respectively. The academic and research communities in Taiwan will join this activity and propose advanced scientific ideas and plans for the coming outer space exploration mission. As the space agency in Taiwan, National Space Organization (NSPO) is planning to conduct an outer space exploration mission in the current phase and probably attempt to engage in the Moon exploration. To proceed the mission smoothly, a small spacecraft (S/C) to orbit the Moon would be considered. With the lunar orbiter as a stepping-stone, a lunar lander will possibly be followed next. Since the approval of Phase III Space Program, NSPO has been engaged in the detailed plan for the first step of Moon exploration. Currently the pre-study on the lunar orbiter development is proceeded and a conceptual design will be followed in the future. The information of scientific payloads and corresponding research topics will be collected and determined soon after the announcement of opportunity (AO) is issued. In this paper, the authors briefly present the plan and current status of the mission.