Taipei: As the United States moves ahead with its spaceport program, which promises to reduce travel time between Houston and Taiwan to just 2.5 hours, Taiwan has expressed interest in the initiative but emphasized the need for more thorough evaluation before proceeding with specific plans.

According to Focus Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which serves as the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan, highlighted the growing bilateral cooperation in space, including potential spaceport collaboration. The AIT mentioned that if suborbital flights were employed, the travel time between Taipei and Houston could significantly decrease, with Ellington Airport in Houston already possessing a legal spaceport license.

The AIT further noted that initial collaboration could focus on unmanned cargo missions, with the possibility of manned flights as technology advances. Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), responsible for overseeing the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), acknowledged the potential for expanded bilateral space cooperation but stressed that specific plans for space transportation need further evaluation.

An unnamed official from Houston First, the tourism bureau of Houston, detailed a potential transportation method involving a large aircraft carrying a spacecraft, which would be released over the ocean. The spacecraft would then ignite its engine, ascend, reorient, and land precisely at a designated airport.

According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. hosts more than 10 spaceports and launch or reentry sites, including the Houston Spaceport located adjacent to Ellington Airport, which focuses on spacecraft development and supports NASA training activities.

A source familiar with the discussions revealed that relevant U.S. agencies have engaged with TASA in informal talks about the spaceport concept during international exchange events. The source indicated that the current speed of launch and landing makes such travel unsuitable for untrained passengers, thus making cargo transport a more feasible option.

Taiwan does not currently have a spaceport, but earlier this year, the NSTC selected Jiupeng in Pingtung County as the site for Taiwan's national launch facility. Current plans focus on launch operations, but space has been reserved for the potential expansion into a spaceport capable of handling landings.