Gistda - Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Thailand)

Thailand has been involved in satellite remote sensing since the launch of NASA ERTS-1 Programme in 1971 through Thailand Remote Sensing Programme (TRSP) under the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). In 1979, TRSP was elevated to become one of the NRCT's division, namely Thailand Remote Sensing Center (TRSC). TRSC serviced and promoted utlization of remote sensing data for management of natural resources and environment in Thailand

In 1982, Thailand Ground Receiving Station was set up as first of its kind in Southeast Asia. Then TRSC became satellite data distributor to users worldwide. The available satellite data are such as LANDSAT, SPOT, NOAA, ERS and MOS.

In 1993, GIS Coordainating and Promotion Section was founded under the Information Center of Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE) in order to promote the use of GIS technology and to coordinate among users with an attempt to set up GIS standards and GIS Index Database for data exchange at national level.

In order to enhance the utilization in remote sensing and GIS, Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Public Organization) : GISTDA was established on November 3, 2000 as a public organization which assumes all responsibilities and activities for space technology and geo-informatics applications.

The THailand Earth Observation Satellite (THEOS) is the first operational earth observation satellite of Thailand. The THEOS program was developed by GISTDA, EADS Astrium, the prime contractor, initiated work on the satellite in 2004.

On October 1, 2008, THEOS was successfully launched by Dnepr launcher from Yasny, Russian Federation. Today, GISTDA is developing a worldwide network of distributors to allow the users to use and access to all GISTDA products.