TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The launch of Taiwan’s Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) Satellite was called off just 15 minutes and 33 seconds before liftoff on a SpaceX rocket, reports said Thursday.
The first of eight Formosat-8 satellites was to have been put into a sun-synchronous orbit early Thursday morning. However, the launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was canceled for the fifth time, with the launch now rescheduled for Saturday morning.
The Taiwan Space Agency attributed the latest postponement to problems with the SpaceX rocket, emphasizing the satellite was still in perfect condition, per CNA. The initial launch date was Nov. 11, with delays to Nov. 12 and Nov. 20 due to the US government shutdown.
The Chi Po-lin Satellite, named after the late documentary director, has 84% of its parts made in Taiwan. The plan was for the SpaceX Transporter-15 rocket to take the satellite to an orbit 561 kilometers from Earth.





