The Premier of Executive Yuan Ching-Te Lai and Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Liang-Gee Chen visited National Space Organization of National Applied Research Laboratories on Aug.3 to encourage the Formosat-7 team. The Formosat-7 program is a large international cooperation between Taiwan and the United States. The integration and test activities on Formosat-7 satellites had almost completed and are now in the final preparation phase.

The final preparation includes the installation of flight batteries, the setup of solar panel to flight configuration, the installation of thermal multilayer insulation, and the final measurement and calibration of satellites. The Premier Lai witnessed the Formosat-5 satellite contact with the ground station and downlinked image data at NSPO satellite operation center. Then he listened to the report on Formosat-7 preparation status. After that, the Premier Lai entered into the satellite integration facility to view the Formosat-7’s six satellites. In addition to make encouragement the team to keep up with the good work, the Premier Lai also provide the blessing towards a successful launch of Formosat-7. Finally, he reiterated the government’s strong determination to develop space technology and will continuously support Taiwan’s space programs.

The Formosat-7 program is an international cooperation between Taiwan and the United States. It is jointly implemented by the NSPO of the NARLabs of Taiwan and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States. NSPO responsible for mission system design, spacecraft bus, satellite integration, flight operations including satellite operations center and Taiwan ground stations and data processing center for validation. The U.S. partners are responsible for providing three payload instruments, launch opportunity, oversea ground stations, and data processing center. The mission of Formosat-7 is to establish a six-satellite constellation system with high reliability. Formosat-7 is to continue the mission of Formosat-3 to expand the effectiveness of weather forecasting and space weather monitoring. Formosat-7 can take measurement over the land as well as over the ocean and is not affected by the weather condition. In addition, the Formosat-7 will provide more observations than the Formosat-3 does (2000 profiles increased to more than 4000 profiles per day). The observation will cover the middle and low latitudes of the earth. The information can be used to analyze typhoon or southwest airflow. It is not only beneficial to the study of tropical and subtropical water vapor and atmosphere, but also enhances the forecast accuracy of typhoon, plum rain and heavy rain.