FORMOSAT 8A, ..., 8F

FORMOSAT 8 [NSPO]

FORMOSAT 8 is a planned earth observation satellite constellation consisting six high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites with a resolution of 1 meter. under development by Taiwan' NSPO.

The FORMOSAT-8 program develops six high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites with a resolution of 1 meter. These satellites are deployed in the sun-synchronous orbit to form a constellation, and the sub-meter resolution is achieved through the Super Resolution method of ground image post-processing. The constellation deployment can provide multiple daily revisit capabilities and global coverage of satellite images (including stereoscopic images) as well as dynamic monitoring information to achieve real-time satellite resource requirements.

The 380 kg satellites feature a Hydrogen peroxide propulsion system. The imaging payload features one panchromatic band and at least four multi-spectral bands with a ground sampling distance (GSD) in panchromatic band of 1 m and in muulti-spectral bands of 2 m. The swath width is 10 km.

Some of the satellites will carry a secondary payload. FORMOSAT-8B will carry a Gamma-ray Transients Monitor (GTM), which will be developed by the National Tsing Hua University.

According to the implementation strategy, the first and second satellites of FORMOSAT-8 are planned to be launched in 2024 and 2025; the third and fourth satellites will be launched in 2026 and 2027; the fifth and sixth satellites will be launched in 2028 and 2029. These are baselined to be dedicated launches small launch vehicles.