ROC develops homegrown satellite optical payload

2015-05-14

Taiwan has developed its first homegrown optical remote sensing payload for the Formosat-5 satellite, according to Hsinchu City-based National Space Organization (NSPO) May 12.

Comprising a Cassegrain telescope-type remote sensing instrument, an electrical unit and a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) focal plane assembly, the payload will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit 720 kilometers above the Earth for observation missions.

“The system is to be up and running when the Formosat-5 is launched in the first quarter of 2016 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California,” NSPO Director-general Chang Guey-shin said. “The satellite will take over duties from Formosat-2, which has been in orbit since its 2004 launch.”

Chang said the instrument, designed by the NSPO in collaboration with local CMOS Sensor Inc., is remarkable for being the world’s first CMOS linear image sensor used in terrestrial observation in space. “The unit delivers prompt signal transmission at a low cost with minimal energy consumption.”

The unit is 100 percent locally developed and capitalizes on Taiwan’s leading-edge electronics and semiconductor industries, Chang said, adding that it also incorporates contributions from Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., Camels Vision Technologies Inc., Industrial Technology Research Institute and National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

Development of the device marks the culmination of NSPO’s Formosat-5 undertaking. Over the years, the program has seen its fair share of technological breakthroughs, including the Advanced Ionospheric Probe launched in January 2015.

“Through the program, we aim to build up Taiwan’s capabilities for independent development of spacecraft and payload instruments, readying the country for space operations in the 21st century and beyond,” Chang said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=230367&ctNode=413)