Tue, May 31, 2022 page12

• LEO satellites offer opportunities

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  Taiwan’s plan to issue licenses for the delivery of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services is a major strategic move for the country and would create great business opportunities for relevant industries, analysts said.

  For example, if Taiwan’s underground and undersea fiber optics were damaged during a war, LEO satellites, which normally operate below an altitude of 2,000km, could be a powerful tool for the military, Digitimes research analyst Ashley Huang (黃雅芝) said in a telephone interview.

  There is evidence of the value of LEO satellites in wartime, for example Ukraine’s effective use of LEO data in the war against Russia, Huang said.

  

  The Formosat-5 satellite is illustrated in an image created by the National Space Organization. The low Earth orbit craft, the nation’s first domestically developed remote-sensing satellite, was launched in 2017 on a five-year mission to collect data for disaster evaluation, national security and scientific research.

  Photo courtesy of the National Space Organization

  In addition to the satellites’ strategic value to a nation, they also have the potential to boost the satellite phone market, which would generate new business opportunities under Taiwan’s plan to issue LEO satellite licenses to domestic telecoms, Huang said.

  Universal Microwave Technology Inc (昇達科技), a leading Taiwanese supplier of millimeter-wave passive components to international space companies, said it is eager to see the launch of the LEO satellite business in Taiwan, as it is aiming to venture into the satellite component market.

  If the government decides to accept license applications from global LEO satellite service providers, major companies such as Space Exploration Technologies Corp, Telesat Corp, OneWeb Ltd and Amazon.com Inc are likely to apply, Universal Microwave Technology said.

  Meanwhile, two Taiwan-based companies have expressed interest in the emerging LEO communications market: Auden Techno Corp (耀登科技), a supplier of wireless local-area network antenna and radio frequency technology products, and Accton Technology Corp (智邦科技), a leading provider of networking solutions.

  The National Communications Commission in March approved draft rules for the appropriation and assignment of radio frequency bands for satellite communications, paving the way for license applications from telecoms to provide LEO satellite services.

  To be eligible to obtain such licenses, telecoms must be registered in Taiwan and managed by Taiwanese, the commission said.

  However, foreign operators can form partnerships with Taiwanese companies to apply for the licenses, it said.

  Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report released last year that LEO satellites’ signal coverage is not constrained by geographical features, such as mountains, oceans and deserts, which means they can synergize with 5G mobile communications to reach areas that lack 5G coverage.

  In the global satellite market, LEO satellites also have the greatest developmental potential, given their proximity to Earth and their relatively lower latency, radiation and cost compared with high Earth orbit and medium Earth orbit satellites, TrendForce said.

  It forecast that the global satellite industry would generate revenue of US$295 billion this year, an annual increase of 3.3 percent.
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