Team Vandenberg launched the FORMOSAT-5 satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 here Thursday, Aug. 24, at 11:51 a.m. PDT.

Col. Gregory E. Wood, 30th Space Wing vice commander, was the launch safety authority.

"The 30th Space Wing takes great pride in supporting another successful SpaceX launch," said Wood. "It is a sterling example of the wing's commitment to public safety and mission success on the Western Range."

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket delivers FORMOSAT-5, an Earth observation satellite for Taiwan's National Space Organization, to a low-Earth orbit.

"The Falcon 9 launch of Formosat-5 was an incredible mission to be a part of! This was the first satellite manufactured and integrated entirely by Taiwan and it was also the fastest turn-around time between Falcon launches here at Space Launch Complex-4," said Capt. Kylie Prachar, Air Force Launch Commander for F9-40 Formosat-5 mission, 1st Air and Space Test Squadron.

"Our Air Force team put in a lot of work to support the mission and provide Fleet Surveillance on behalf of the Space and Missile Systems Center."

FORMOSAT-5 will operate in a sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720-km with a 98.28 degree inclination angle.

As with the FORMOSAT-2 satellite, the primary payload on FORMOSAT-5 is an optical Remote Sensing Instrument (RSI), which provides 2-meter resolution panchromatic (black and white) and 4-meter resolution multi-spectral (color) images. FORMOSAT-5 also hosts a secondary scientific payload, an Advanced Ionospheric Probe, developed by Taiwan's National Central University.

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