Taiwan has reached a new milestone in space technology with the development of large-diameter aspheric lenses for the FORMOSAT-5 satellite, the National Applied Research Laboratories said April 16.
“The larger the diameter, the more precise the lens is, resulting in higher resolution. But the technological threshold for manufacturing the lens is also much higher,” said Hsu Wei-yao of the NARL Instrument Technology Research Center, which produced the lenses.
“With these lenses you could clearly see the head of ant on the ground from the top floor of Taipei 101.”
The quality of the lenses is equal to that of those produced in Japan, the U.K. and U.S., the NARL said in a news release. Advanced technology is needed to meet the high resolution requirements of the lenses, which in addition to aerospace technology are used in astronomical telescopes, semiconductors and high-precision measuring instruments.
“You need ultraprecise measurement, polishing, gripping and metallic-membrane plating techniques,” Hsu said.
Moreover, such lenses, which are extremely expensive and subject to international trade controls, must be able to withstand severe conditions in outer space, including extreme temperature changes, intense radiation and the violent shaking of a rocket launch.
FORMOSAT-5, designed and built in Taiwan, is scheduled for launch in 2015, to replace FORMOSAT-2. It will primarily take photographs for use in disaster relief, environmental monitoring, land-use planning and scientific research.
The manufacturing process developed by the ITRC could contribute to the transformation and upgrading of Taiwan’s industry by allowing domestic production of large-diameter aspheric lenses for use by related sectors, the NARL said. (THN)
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