GISTDA

The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), established in 2000 and headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, is Thailand's national space agency responsible for developing and operating Earth observation satellites, providing geospatial data and services for government agencies and commercial users, advancing Thai space technology capability, and representing Thailand in international space cooperation.

GISTDA's primary space program is the THEOS (Thailand Earth Observation Satellite) series: THEOS-1, launched in 2008 aboard a Ukrainian Dnepr rocket, was Thailand's first Earth observation satellite providing 2-meter panchromatic and 15-meter multispectral imagery for land use mapping, agricultural monitoring, flood assessment, and urban planning. THEOS-2, launched in 2021 aboard a Vega rocket from Kourou as the first satellite under a Thai-UK bilateral program involving Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), provides 0.5-meter very high resolution panchromatic imagery and 2-meter multispectral imagery — a significant jump in resolution capability enabling detailed infrastructure mapping, precision agriculture, disaster damage assessment at building level, and military reconnaissance quality imagery for Thai defense agencies.

GISTDA operates the Thailand Ground Receiving Station at the space technology development center in Si Racha, Chonburi Province, which processes THEOS imagery and can also receive data from foreign Earth observation satellites under data purchase agreements. The agency provides geospatial services to over 40 Thai government agencies including disaster response (Royal Irrigation Department, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation), agriculture (Office of Agricultural Economics), and urban planning (Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning).

GISTDA participates in the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) and bilateral space cooperation with France (CNES), Japan (JAXA), and China (CNSA), and is developing THEOS-3 as Thailand's next generation Earth observation satellite program targeting sub-0.5-meter very high resolution capability.