Fri, Oct 16, 2026 page2

• Second Formosat-8 satellite launch expected early next year

  • By Sam Garcia / Staff writer, with CNA
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  The second satellite of the Formosat-8 constellation is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) said yesterday, as it released a documentary about the project.

  Formosat-8 is Taiwan’s first domestically developed submeter resolution remote-sensing satellite constellation.

  The first satellite — named after the late documentarian Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) and abbreviated FS-8A — was launched into space in November last year.

  

  Officials from the Taiwan Space Agency and others who worked on Formosat-8 watch the screening of the documentary Eyes Over Formosa at SPOT Huashan cinema in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Space Agency

  The constellation is to consist of eight satellites: six that could capture images with a resolution of 1m and two that are to capture images at a finer resolution.

  The full constellation is expected to be deployed by 2031, with the goal of photographing the same location three times a day.

  The quality of images from FS-8A released this year exceeded the original goals of the project, TASA said.

  The second satellite of the constellation, FS-8B, has been assembled and has completed environmental testing, the agency said.

  It would be shipped to the US by the end of this year and launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket in the first quarter of next year, it said.

  The agency yesterday held a special screening of a documentary about the Formosat-8 project, Eyes Over Formosa (守望之眼), at SPOT Huashan cinema in Taipei.

  National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文), TASA Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) and director Shen Ko-shang (沈可尚) attended, as well as members of the project team.

  The documentary introduces the satellites’ development, following engineers through building and testing to launch.

  It shows how the team overcame problems that affected Formosat-5 and developed FS-8A, with 84 percent of its key components made domestically.

  FS-8A is now watching Taiwan from space, using highly advanced technology to capture clear images of Taiwan from 561km above the Earth’s surface, Wu Cheng-wen said.

  Thanks to 30 years of hard work, Taiwan has caught up with other leading countries, he said.

  In addition to optical remote-sensing satellites, Taiwan would continue developing weather satellites and low-orbit communications satellites, he added.

  Formosat-8 has brought together TASA, NSTC researchers, academic teams and private enterprises, demonstrating Taiwan’s capabilities in space technology, Wu Cheng-wen said, adding that the nation’s space industry would expand into rockets as well as satellites.

  NASA is formally cooperating with Taiwan, and the nation could play an important role in the US lunar program, he said.

  TASA has two main goals: strengthening national security and promoting the space industry, Wu Jong-shinn said.

  The Formosat-8 constellation shows Taiwan can independently develop high-resolution remote-sensing satellites, and would continuously collect data to monitor land and respond to disasters, becoming “eyes over Taiwan” protecting the nation, he said.

  TASA said it signed contracts in July with three distributors for images from Formosat-8: Interactive Digital Technologies, National Central University’s Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research and ThinkTron Co.

  The distributors would work to expand into global markets and speed up the commercialization of Taiwan’s satellite imagery, the agency said.

  Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
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