Formosat-5


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

Instruments

The Remote Sensing Instrument is the primary instrument aboard the spacecraft. It is composed of Telescope and Electrical Unit. The Telescope consists of Optics, Structure Module and CMOS typed Focal Plane Assembly. The mission also incorporates a science payload, the Advanced Ionospheric Probe, for studies of ionospheric plasma physics.
The satellite is capable of returning images with a resolution of 2 meters or 4 meters in color, but only in weather-permitting conditions.

Launch

The satellite was flown from Taiwan to Los Angeles International Airport in the United States on 19 July 2017 via a China Airlines transport aircraft, and arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base on 26 July. Launch took place on 24 August 2017 at 18:51 UTC from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4-East aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Operations

Formosat-5 first transmitted images to Earth in September 2017, but the images were unclear. The National Space Organization made modifications, allowing the satellite to return images at the desired resolution, but only in weather-permitting conditions.
Formosat-5's project director is Chang Ho-pen.