Images taken by Formosat-5, the nation’s first domestically developed satellite, are commercially available, the National Space Organization (NSPO) announced yesterday, adding that it expects to make NT$7 million (US$227,894) from sales of the images this year.
The satellite was launched on Aug. 25 last year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
Developed by the center at a cost of NT$5.659 billion, Formosat-5 collects data and images for disaster evaluation, national security and scientific research.
Photo courtesy of the National Space Organization
It replaced Formosat-2, which was officially decommissioned in August 2016.
While the initial images transmitted by Formosat-5 in September last year were blurry and tainted with light spots, their quality has since improved through the use of different techniques, allowing them to achieve the satellite’s default resolution of 2m for black-and-white images and 4m for colored ones, it said.
The center expects to make a revenue of NT$7 million this year from selling Formosat-5’s images to other agencies, including a NT$5.6 million contract with the Council of Agriculture’s Aerial Survey Office, NSPO Deputy Director-General Yu Shiann-jen (余憲政) said, adding that revenue from image sales could more than double next year.
Formosat-5 can be adjusted to shoot images along designated longitudes or above certain regions, and customers needing such images would have to pay an additional fee, the center said.
An image, usually measuring 576m2, sells for US$1 per square meter, while customized photos might cost 30 percent more, Yu said.
After placing an order, clients should receive the images in three to four days — depending on the image quality — which is already faster than most foreign agencies, Yu said.
The processing time would further be shortened when the center’s automatic image processing is ready by November, he added.
As a promotion, the center is offering images taken by Formosat-5 over Taiwan for free until the end of the year.
People can download the images from the center’s Web site, it said.
As for the center’s Formosat-7 satellite cluster, it will most likely not be launched this year, as SpaceX is still evaluating the production schedule for its Falcon Heavy rocket, Yu said.
The center is waiting for notification about the schedule from the US Air Force, Yu said.
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