TAIWAN MADE: The system, which is to be used with Formosat-7/COSMIC2, allows for greater flexibility and information security protection, an NSPO researcher said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterT

The National Space Organization (NSPO) yesterday said that it has developed the nation’s first cross-platform satellite operation control system, which is to control the Formosat-7/COSMIC2 constellation and would save nearly NT$500 million (US$17.02 million) on project development.

The system was trialed on Formosat-5, a remote sensing satellite launched in 2017, and later used to control the Formosat-7 constellation, National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) president Wu Kuang-chong (吳光鐘) told a news conference at the NSPO in Hsinchu.

A Taiwan-US collaboration, the six-satellite Formosat-7, which conducts weather observations, was launched on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy in June last year.

Four of the Formosat-7 satellites have moved from their 720km deployment orbit to 550km mission orbits on separate planes, while the other two would move to their mission orbits by February next year, the NSPO said.    [FULL  STORY]