THEOS 1 (THai Earth Observation System), also known as Thaichote, was fully owned and operated by the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology's Space Agency (GISTDA) and provided Thailand with worldwide geo-referenced image products and image processing capabilities for applications in cartography, land use, agricultural monitoring, forestry management, coastal zone monitoring and flood risk management. THEOS provided access to any part of Thailand in less than 2 days.

The THEOS contract included the production and launch of one optical satellite, as well as the development of the ground segment necessary to operate and control the satellite directly from Thailand. This is naturally accompanied by state of the art facilities for image archiving and processing. The THEOS satellite is based on the new generation of EADS Astrium Optical Earth Observation high performance satellites, the AstroSat product line, and benefits from EADS Astrium's extensive experience in this field which started with the SPOT and METOP satellites.

As part of the THEOS contract, Thai engineers joined the EADS Astrium development team and attended intensive space programme training. This cooperation contract paved the way for further development of GISTDA and space activities in Thailand.