Following a media report saying Formosat-5 was transmitting fuzzy images, National Space Organization (NSPO) officials yesterday said they are recalibrating the satellite’s camera, but denied that it had experienced a system failure.
Formosat-5, the nation’s first domestically developed satellite, which cost about NT$5.65 billion (US$187.5 million), was launched on Aug. 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was scheduled to start sending images to the NSPO by Sept. 8.
A report published yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) said the imaging capability of Formosat-5 might be compromised after the first set of images it sent back on Sept. 7 were blurry, with some showing stripes and light spots.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The report also said the agency had detected the problem before the satellite’s launch, but failed to calibrate its CMOS chips.
The agency acknowledged that the images were not satisfactory.
The images appear to have only 8m resolution while the satellite should have provided color images down to 4m, National Applied Research Laboratories vice president and NSPO Acting Director-General Wu Kuang-chung (吳光鐘) said.
The focus problem is not caused by any defect in the satellite’s CMOS, Wu said.
One possible cause is vibrations during the satellite’s delivery or launch, but a more in-depth investigation is needed to reach a conclusion, he said, adding that the agency hopes to solve the problem in two or three months.
“NSPO did not observe any similar problems when it tested the satellite on land,” NSPO Deputy Director-General Yu Shiann-jen (余憲政) said.
The agency plans to modify the satellite’s focal length either by adjusting its internal temperature, altering its orbit altitude or improving resolution through image deconvolution software, Yu said, adding that changing its altitude would be riskier.
“We have to confirm whether the focal length is extended or shortened before deciding on which solution to adopt,” Yu said, declining reporters’ requests to provide a worst-case scenario if recalibration fails.
The remote sensing function is the last test of Formosat-5, while all other scientific payloads are functioning normally, Yu said.
“As I have always maintained, the real test of a satellite begins only after it is launched into space,” NSPO Formosat-5 project director Chang Ho-pen (張和本) said, reaffirming that previous tests were smooth.
Asked why the agency could not fix the problem one week after it was found, Chang said the satellite’s heating and cooling takes many steps.
The nation’s next satellite, Formosat-7, is scheduled to be launched next year.
The project is a collaboration between Taiwan and the US.
The problem of Formosat-5 will not affect the Formosat-7 project, which is tasked with a different mission — to gather space weather data, Yu said.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan has signed six arms procurement offers from the US totaling more than NT$208 billion (US$6.59 billion) covering long-range precision strike systems, missile stockpile replenishment and joint production of large-caliber ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget has been stalled in the Legislative Yuan as opposition lawmakers question the amount and procurement items, while the Presidential Office and defense ministry say that the full amount is necessary to safeguard Taiwan. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Monday briefed the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the defense budget for
RSS