Taiwan’s first Formosat-8 satellite “Zeppelin” launches into space | WPN World People News

Taiwan’s first domestically built optical remote-sensing satellite constellation, Formosat-8, successfully launched its first satellite, “Zeppelin” (FS-8A), in the early hours of the 29th (Taiwan time).

After five launch delays of the carrier rocket, the “Zeppelin” satellite finally lifted off at 2:44 a.m. on the 29th (Taiwan time) aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on the Transporter-15 mission.

The Falcon 9 fairing separated three minutes after liftoff, and the first-stage booster was recovered eight minutes later. The rocket then deployed its rideshare payloads at an altitude of 510 km, and finally proceeded to 561 km. The “Zeppelin” satellite separated from the rocket at 5:04 a.m., entering its designated orbit.

The Formosat-8 mission consists of six 1-meter native-resolution optical remote-sensing satellites and two ultra-high-resolution satellites with native resolution below 1 meter, to be launched annually starting in 2025. The full constellation is expected to be completed by 2031, enabling multiple revisits per day and global coverage of satellite imagery.