FUZZY:The agency acknowledged problems with Formosat-5’s camera, resulting in blurry images, but denied it was caused by any defect in the satellite’s CMOS
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 20, 2017
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
Following a media report saying Formosat-5 was transmitting fuzzy images, National
A National Space Organization representative in Taipei yesterday points at a photograph of fields taken by Formosat-5 as he explains possible reasons the image appears blurred. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
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.
The report also said the agency had detected the problem before the satellite’s launch, but failed to calibrate its CMOS chips. [FULL STORY]
