Satellite’s agile task planning is limited by the integration direction of the detector, especially for a remote sensing satellite with single integral direction TDI detector. The optical bidirectional scanning system is proposed. In this system, a plane mirror whose normal direction is at a certain angle to the optical axis is added in. With this mirror, the forward and reverse relationship of the system object image is changed, and the optical path and image quality are not affected. In order to verify the rationality of the optical system, an engineering prototype of optical bidirectional scanning camera is designed and installed. The imaging test of the camera is carried out, the imaging test result is consistent with expectation, and the optical switching effect is obvious. This experiment demonstrates the camera’s ability to adapt to both flight directions. The development process of the prototype is summarized, and the problems to be considered in the future are put forward, which lay a foundation for the application of the optical bidirectional scan camera.