The six-satellite Formosat-3 constellation was launched on April 15, 2006, atop a Minotaur rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket that carried the Formosat-3/COSMIC satellite constellation is pictured in an undated photograph; the constellation is to be officially retired today after 14 years of service. Despite generating a relatively small volume of data — about 2 to 3 percent of all data used in weather forecasting — Formosat-3 contributed to reducing forecast errors by 10 percent, the ECMWF said. “As of Monday last week, there are 4,551 registered community users from 92 nations that used the data,” the NSPO said. The Formosat-7 constellation, which is also comprised of six satellites, was launched on June 25 last year.

Source: Taipei Times April 30, 2020 15:56 UTC