FORMOSAT-5

Formosat-5 is an Earth observation satellite operated by the National Space Organization (NSPO) of Taiwan. It is NSPO s first indigenously developed remote sensing satellite.

Mission of the program is shown as follows:

• To build up Taiwan’s self-reliant space technology on the remote sensing payload and spacecraft bus,
• To develop the key components of the EO-type remote sensing instrument and spacecraft bus by integrating the domestic resources,
• To continue to serve the global imagery users’ community of FORMOSAT-2, and To promote the space science experiment & research.

FORMOSAT-5 operates in a sun synchronous orbit at 720-km altitude with 98.28-degree inclination angle. Similar to FORMOSAT-2, an optical Remote Sensing Instrument (RSI), which provides 2-m resolution panchromatic (PAN, black & white) and 4-m resolution multi-spectral (MS, color) images, is the primary payload on FORMOSAT-5. The primary payload consists of one PAN band with 12,000 pixels and four MS bands with 6000 pixels each. In addition, a secondary payload, a scientific instrument (i.e., Advanced Ionospheric Probe (AIP)), was developed by The National Central University (NCU). FORMOSAT-5 was launched by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on August 25, 2017 and both payloads are operating normally.

For more information:http://www.nspo.narl.org.tw/en2016/projects/FORMOSAT-5/program-description.html

The basic characteristics of FORMOSAT-5 are similar to FORMOSAT-2 and shown below: