Abstract: The remote sensing satellite RAW data format is not only one of the focus problems during the operation and development in the remote sensing satellite ground station, but also a problem the remote sensing users concern about. At present, the definition of RAW data format is in great confusion both at home and abroad, and no corresponding technical definition has been available so far. It has brought serious limitation to the usage of expensive satellite data and also brought difficulty on deciding how to save the data for long time storage, it has had great influence on the further development in the remote sensing satellite ground station. By analyzing the characteristics of some main existing remote sensing satellite RAW format combined with the operation experience over 20 years in China, a general RAW data format is proposed in this paper. RAW format has been adopted to our prototype system and well operated. Surely it is quite difficult to found a kind of RAW format standard with excellent compatibility and maneuverability.