Formosat-8

Formosat-8
Country of originTaiwan Taiwan
OperatorTaiwan Space Agency
Production
Planned8
Launched1
Operational1
Maiden launch28 November 2025
← TRITON

Formosat-8 is a constellation of Taiwanese earth observation satellites under development by Taiwan Space Agency.

History

The program builds off of Formosat-5, a remote imaging satellite which was launched in 2017. In 2024 it was announced that the domestic parts would make up 80% of the satellites. The Formosat-8 program was praised by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during a May 2025 visit to the program office.

The first launch was innitially planned for October, 2025 via SpaceX. In early October the first satellite was flown to the United States with a new expected launch date in November. The launch was delayed by the 2025 United States federal government shutdown to 28 November 2025.

Payloads

Six of eight satellites are planned to fly high resolution optical payloads with less than 1m resolution and two satellites are planned to fly with 1m resolution payloads.

Team

As of 2025 Cynthia Liu was the project manager.

Satellites

Launches began in 2025 and are expected to end in 2031. FORMOSAT-8C and 8D will be launched by Avio's Vega C rockets from the Guiana Space Centre.

Formosat-8A

The first satellite in the constellation is Formosat-8A (FS-8A). It was launched on 28 November 2025 on the Falcon 9 mission Transporter-15 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The satellite is named after Chi Po-lin in honor of the Taiwanese photographer and filmmaker who died in a tragic helicopter accident in 2017.

Formosat-8B

FS-8B is expected to be launched in December 2026.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Nakhiengchanh, Michael. "Taiwan's FORMOSAT-8 satellite to launch in 2025". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  2. ↑ Writer, Staff. "Formosat-8 could be launched next year, agency says". taipeitimes.com. Taiwan News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "First Formosat-8 satellite could be launched late 2025: TASA". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  4. ↑ Chen, Kelvin. "Lai lauds Taiwan's FORMOSAT-8 satellite project". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Chuang, Bryan; Wu, Vyra. "Taiwan to launch critical surveillance satellite in October". digitimes.com. DigiTimes. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  6. ↑ Chang, Alyx; Kuan-hsien, Wu. "1st FORMOSAT-8 satellite to be launched in October". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Min-ya, Chao; Lai, Sunny. "Taiwan sends 1st FORMOSAT-8 satellite to U.S. for November liftoff". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  8. ↑ Strong, Matthew. "Taiwan satellite launch postponed due to US government shutdown". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Day, Eleanor (2025-11-26). "SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches 140 payloads on Transporter-15". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  10. 1 2 Po-hsiung, Wu; Chia-yi, Chen. "Formosat-8 to contain Taiwan-made sensors". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  11. 1 2 Nakhiengchanh, Michael. "Taiwan's 1st Formosat-8 clears testing". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  12. 1 2 Parsonson, Andrew (2025-12-25). "Avio to Launch Four Earth Observation Satellites for Taiwan". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  13. ↑ Hiciano, Lery. "FS-8A set to ship to US next month: TASA". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "Formosat-8 launches from California space base". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 November 2025.