Formosat-8

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Formosat-8
Country of originTaiwan Taiwan
OperatorTaiwan Space Agency
Production
Planned8
Launched1
Operational1
Maiden launch28 November 2025
← COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7

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

History

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The program builds off of Formosat-5, a remote imaging satellite which was launched in 2017.[1] In 2024 it was announced that the domestic parts would make up 80% of the satellites.[2][3] The Formosat-8 program was praised by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during a May 2025 visit to the program office.[4]

The first launch was innitially planned for October, 2025 via SpaceX.[1][5][6] In early October the first satellite was flown to the United States with a new expected launch date in November.[7] The launch was delayed by the 2025 United States federal government shutdown[8] to 28 November 2025.[9]

Payloads

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Six of eight satellites are planned to fly high resolution optical payloads with less than 1m resolution and two satellites are planned to fly at with 1m resolution payloads.[10]

Team

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As of 2025 Cynthia Liu was the project manager.[10]

Satellites

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Launches begun in 2025[9] and are expected to end in 2031.[11]

Formosat-8A (FS-8A)

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The first satellite in the constellation is Formosat-8A (FS-8A).[12][11] It was launched on 28 November 2025 on the Falcon 9 mission Transporter-15 from Vandenberg Space Force Base.[9] 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.[13]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c Day, Eleanor (2025-11-26). "SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches 140 payloads on Transporter-15". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2025-11-29.
  10. ^ a b Po-hsiung, Wu; Chia-yi, Chen. "Formosat-8 to contain Taiwan-made sensors". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  11. ^ a b Nakhiengchanh, Michael. "Taiwan's 1st Formosat-8 clears testing". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  12. ^ Hiciano, Lery. "FS-8A set to ship to US next month: TASA". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Formosat-8 launches from California space base". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 November 2025.