Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency

GISTDA, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, is Thailand's public space and geo-informatics agency.^[1] It sits under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, with institutional lineage that includes the earlier Ministry of Science and Technology affiliation before Thailand's ministry restructuring.^[1][2] Established by Royal Decree on 3 November 2000, GISTDA consolidated Thailand's remote-sensing and space-technology functions into a national agency for satellite data acquisition, processing, dissemination, and applications.^[1][2] GISTDA operates Thailand's Earth observation programme, including THEOS-1 (Thaichote) and THEOS-2, and provides national geo-informatics services for government and applied users.^[3][4] THEOS-2 adds very-high-resolution optical imaging with AIS and ADS-B payloads in sun-synchronous orbit, while THEOS-1 remains the country's first EO satellite programme in extended service.^[4][3]