Taiwan-US Formosat-3 satellites retire after 14 years

2020/05/04

Formosat-3, a group of six satellites jointly developed by Taiwan and the U.S., officially retires May 1 after 14 years of providing essential meteorological data, spotlighting Taiwan’s long-standing contributions to the space technology industry and meteorological monitoring.
 
 An initiative between Taiwan’s National Space Organization (NSPO) and U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Formosat-3 became the first microsatellite constellation observing Earth’s atmosphere through global positioning system radio occultation when it was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 2006. Its mission was to collect information about atmospheric conditions such as humidity, pressure, temperature and ionospheric electron density.
 
 NSPO statistics show that as of April 20, a total of 4,551 registered users from 92 countries and territories have utilized data collected by the constellation. In one notable example, Formosat-3’s storm trajectory predictions played a pivotal role in guiding emergency evacuation decisions by the U.S. government during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
 
 According to the NSPO, Formosat-3 has received international recognition for its accuracy and stability, garnering mentions in leading academic journals like Nature and Science. It was ranked as the world’s fifth-best meteorological observation system in 2012 by U.K.-based European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the organization added.
 
 Through Formosat-3’s contributions, Taiwan has become a major provider of global weather data, the NSPO said, adding that the constellation has helped raise the country’s profile in the international meteorological community.
 
 With Formosat-3’s retirement, the data collection mantle has been taken up by Formosat-7, a six-satellite constellation launched last June also through Taiwan-U.S. collaboration.
 
 Information gathered by Formosat-7 became publicly available March 7 on the website of Taiwan Analysis Center for COSMIC, ensuring continued access to data critical to research on extreme and abnormal weather patterns.
 
 Established in 1991, NSPO is administered by National Applied Research Laboratories under the Ministry of Science and Technology. It is committed to becoming a center of innovation for space science and conducting domestic and international space programs.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)