At 9:40, on the morning of April 15, FORMOSAT-3, a satellite jointly developed by Taiwan and the US was successfully launched from a US Air Force base in California. President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu watched a live televised broadcast of the launching in Taipei.
The president and the vice president congratulated the satellite team on the success of the launch. According to the president, the FORMOSAT-3 project aims to establish a global network for meteorological observation and surveillance between researchers in Taiwan and the US as well as provide Taiwan with more opportunities to exchange meteorological data with other countries around the world.
On May 21, 2004, the president and the vice president also witnessed the televised launching of the FORMOSAT-2 satellite.