SSTL has been awarded the contract by the National Space Organization (NSPO) in Taiwan for the design and manufacture of up to twelve satellite platforms for the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 constellation. The contract was awarded in an open international competition, with SSTL providing the most cost-effective solution.

The FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 mission is a joint civil programme between NSPO and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US, and is to provide continuity for the highly successful FORMOSAT-3 mission.

The new constellation is intended to comprise twelve spacecraft and is to collect atmospheric data at low and mid latitudes and improve regional and global weather forecasting for over 5000 registered users across the globe. It will also provide scientific data in support of climate studies and ionospheric science. Launch of the first six spacecraft in the constellation is being targeted in 2016.

Under the contract, SSTL will design and manufacture satellites for the FORMOSAT-7 programme at its facilities in Guildford, UK, with the payloads being produced by NSPO's partners in the USA. NPSO will be responsible for the integration of the majority of the spacecraft at its facilities in Taiwan. The spacecraft design phase is already underway and SSTL is tailoring a new 200kg platform to the mission requirements.

The FORMOSAT-7 spacecraft is the fifth constellation that SSTL has been involved with, following on from the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, RapidEye, DMC3, and the Galileo FOC.