This satellite is named FORMOSAT-5. It weighs almost 450 kilograms. "Launched using a Falcon 9 rocket," SpaceX scientist Lauren Lyons said at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., On Thursday, August 24, 2017. After 10 minutes of launch, the SpaceX team confirmed that FORMOSAT-5 has entered orbit.
The FORMOSAT-5 satellite is designed to operate for five years. This satellite will orbit the earth every 100 minutes.
Last year FORMOSAT-2, the FORMOSAT-5 predecessor, was retired after five years of operation. In that time span FORMOSAT-2 successfully charted major natural disasters in various regions of Asia and Africa.
And most interesting is SpaceX managed to make Falcon 9 rocket back to earth. "This successful 15th Falcon 9 landing," Lyons said.
The cameras mounted on the rocket showed the rocket landed upright on a drone ship called Just Read the Instructions. SpaceX plans to transport the rocket back and update it so it can be used for the next launch.
