The impending launch of Taiwan’s first domestically-made rocket, the HAPITH-I, has drawn complaints from the company for the government’s complex approval procedure. The government is thus planning to push for a law to govern and facilitate domestic rocket launches.
The launch is set to take place on Thursday, in Taitung County, in Southeast Taiwan. However, TiSPACE, the company that developed the rocket, has complained about the complex procedures they’ve had to go through for government approval. TiSPACE staff has had to contact the interior ministry for approval for land use, the transportation ministry for use of airspace, the agriculture council for use of farm land, and the economics ministry for permission.
Officials from the science ministry said that Taiwan currently has no law that governs a domestic rocket launch, and there is not one sole government department that has the authority to approve such activity. The ministry said it will actively push for a law amendment to facilitate the process in the future.
This wasn’t the first setback that TiSPACE had encountered for the rocket launch. The company postponed its previous launch date, set on December 27, last year, due to a failure to communicate the terms of the launch with the local Liubetj people. The company later settled the dispute with the tribe leaders.