National Taiwan Normal University’s Center of Astronomy and Gravitation (CAG) in the College of Science held the Workshop on Near-Earth Space and Solar System Exploration on 14-17 April 2026. The four-day event brought together around 60 scholars, researchers, students, engineers, and industry experts from Taiwan and abroad to explore new directions for Taiwan’s space science and deep-space mission development.

The workshop opened with remarks by Dean Jein-Shan Chen of the College of Science. Organized under the leadership of CAG Director Yi-Jehng Kuan, the event was jointly coordinated by CAG faculty members Professor Chun-Chi Lin, Professor Yueh-Ning Lee, Professor Hung-Yi Pu, and Professor Wei-Ling Tseng, together with Professor Ying Liao and Professor Jung-Chen Tung from National Taipei University of Technology.

As the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) continues to advance national space development and the Taiwan Space Union (TSU) promotes cross-sector collaboration, Taiwan’s space community is increasingly looking beyond Earth-observation satellites. While Taiwan’s past satellite missions have focused largely on observing Earth from orbit, scientists and engineers are now discussing new possibilities for instruments that look outward toward space, including future deep-space missions for solar system exploration.

Following the strong response to the first workshop last year, held 10-12 February 2025, CAG organized this second gathering with the goal of establishing the event as a regular scientific platform for Taiwan’s space exploration community.

The workshop featured four keynote lectures by leading international and domestic experts. The opening keynote was delivered by Academia Sinica Academician and Professor Wing-Huen Ip of National Central University’s Graduate Institute of Astronomy and Department of Space Science and Engineering. A leading figure in planetary science and solar system evolution, Professor Ip played a key role in initiating the European Space Agency’s Cassini mission to Saturn and its moon Titan. He has also been a major driving force behind planetary and space science research in Taiwan over the past several decades.

The second keynote was presented by Dr. Scott Bolton, Vice President of the Southwest Research Institute and Principal Investigator of NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter, a mission with a budget exceeding US$1.5 billion. Dr. Bolton shared the latest scientific results from the Juno mission, which has been observing Jupiter and its Galilean moons since its launch in 2011 and is scheduled to continue through 2028.

The third keynote speaker was Dr. Paul Hartogh of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany. Dr. Hartogh heads the Planetary Atmospheres Group and serves as Principal Investigator of the Submillimetre Wave Instrument for the European Space Agency’s JUICE (i.e. JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission. He introduced the scientific goals and expected outcomes of JUICE, which is designed to study Jupiter’s icy moons between 2023 and 2035.

The final keynote was delivered by Professor Satoshi Kasahara of the University of Tokyo’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science. As Principal Investigator of the Ion Mass Spectrometer for the European Space Agency’s Comet Interceptor mission, Professor Kasahara discussed the mission’s plans and technical considerations for intercepting a long-period comet in the future.

In addition to keynote presentations, the workshop invited engineers from the space technology sector to share practical insights from industry. Participants also visited the Taiwan Space Agency to learn more about Taiwan’s past and ongoing space missions, as well as the country’s vision for future space development.

NTNU expressed its appreciation to the Office of Research and Development and the College of Science for their funding support, as well as to the Taiwan Space Union and the Gravitational Society of the Republic of China for co-organizing the event. Through this workshop, NTNU aims to further strengthen academic exchange, connect research and industry expertise, and contribute new momentum and ideas to astronomy and space research at the University and across Taiwan.