TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan launches its first Formosat-8 (福衛八號) constellation satellite, the "Chi Po-lin" (齊柏林衛星), Thursday (Nov. 27) at 2:18 a.m. Taiwan time. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will carry the satellite from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the Taiwan Space Agency (國家太空中心) announced Wednesday (Nov. 26). The launch marks a major milestone in Taiwan's space technology development program.
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) named the satellite, also known as FS-8A, to honor late documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin, renowned for his aerial photography of Taiwan. The satellite features 84% domestically developed components, showcasing Taiwan's growing space technology capabilities and self-reliance in satellite manufacturing. The eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation will provide higher resolution imaging than Formosat-5 (福衛五號) for land planning, agricultural monitoring, and disaster response operations.
The National Science and Technology Council (國科會), Taiwan's top science policy body, said the satellite will enter sun-synchronous orbit at 561 kilometers (348 miles) altitude approximately 140 minutes after launch. The satellite will conduct optical remote sensing missions to capture Earth surface images. National Cheng Kung University (國立成功大學) developed onboard instruments including the Dual-band Imager of Atmospheric Transient (DIAT) and Electron Temperature and Density Probe (TeNeP) to study ionosphere and gamma-ray flashes.
The Falcon 9 rocket will also carry five Taiwanese-made CubeSats: Bellbird-1 (鐘雀1號), Black Kite-1 (黑鳶1號), Albatross-1 (信天翁1號), Lilium-2, and Lilium-3. The CubeSats, small research satellites, will validate domestically developed technologies and demonstrate Taiwan's satellite sector capabilities. The National Science and Technology Council and Taiwan Space Agency will livestream the launch on Facebook and YouTube with rocket science explanations and project background. ◼