News | Sep 02, 2022

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Hex20 to build 3U Spacecraft for NCU Taiwan

Hex20 is delighted to announce the build of a 3U spacecraft for National Central University(NCU) Taiwan with delivery scheduled in 2023 for an IOT mission.

Mr. Lloyd Lopez, CEO of Hex20 said “the Hex20 NX-3I 3U CubeSat bus leverages the spacecraft architecture developed under the ‘INSPIRE’ consortium, of which NCU was a founding member. The NX-3I is one of the most cutting-edge 3U platforms with space heritage and competitively priced in the international market”. The spacecraft will be integrated at Hex20 facilities in Adelaide and controlled from NCU facilities in Taiwan.

Mr. Lopez added “HEX20 provides turnkey satellite mission solutions designed and delivered according to customer requirements. The modular and scalable buses can support missions for commercial and defence applications. Hex20 currently working with its partners including University of Adelaide to build up sovereign capability within South Australia”.

Prof Loren Chang from NCU stated “The Taiwan government has identified space technology as a key sector for national development. Low Earth Orbit satellites for communications and IoT being identified as national priorities”.

“The spacecraft will carry an NCU developed Automatic identification system (AIS) payload that can be used for maritime tracking, as well as data collection from scientific buoys developed and deployed by NCU for meteorological and oceanographic observations,” said Prof Chang.

NCU has a long history stemming from Taiwan’s first forays into space science following participation in the International Geophysical Year in 1957. NCU was the first university in Taiwan to establish a Department of Space Science and Engineering. The University has been working to develop a small satellite program for educational, scientific, as well as technology test platforms.