The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) aims to lead Taiwanese manufacturers in forming a well-rounded link in the satellite ground station supply chain, it said.
According to a report of South China Morning Post published on Friday, China plans to launch project "GW" , which aims to launch nearly 13000 satellites, to build a large satellite network in low Earth orbit to provide Internet to users around the world.
The project, according to a team led by associate professor Xu Can with the People’s Liberation Army’s Space Engineering University in Beijing, might deploy satellites quickly to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has more than 3,000 satellites in orbit and is expected to grow to more than 40,000 satellites, it reported.
Photo courtesy of the Industrial Technology Research Institute
In Taipei, the National Science and Technology Council on Saturday said that the B5G project was on track to launch Taiwan’s first low Earth orbit communications satellite as soon as the middle of 2025.
The ITRI is responsible for technologies related to building ground stations to communicate with the B5G satellites.
In the early stage of Taiwan’s satellite supply chain, satellite TV and navigation equipment were a main focus, said Kao Jung-yang (高榮揚), head of the video processing and telecommunication group at ITRI’s Information and Communications Research Laboratories.
The research and development of low Earth orbit communications satellites is an opportunity for Taiwan to join related supply chains, he said.
The production value of the global space industry in 2021 was US$386 billion, of which ground equipment accounted for 51 percent, he said, citing information from the Satellite Industry Association.
The ITRI is to develop advanced technologies related to satellite ground stations including technologies to transmit and receive baseband signals and phased-array technologies, Kao said.
It has completed equipment for ground stations, which is ready to be tested by domestic and foreign manufacturers, he said.
Taiwanese industries can join the supply chain for ground stations as the commercial technologies of low Earth orbit communications satellites only need four to five years to develop, said Evin Liao (廖榮皇), who works at the ITRI’s Industry Service Center.
The ITRI can help manufacturers in semiconductors, information and communication, precision machining and optoelectronics improve technologies and match them with buyers through the international supply chain, he said.
For example, the ITRI led businesses to the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in the US in March last year and helped match nine manufacturers with customers, he said.
It also provides low-interest loans and promotes cooperation between industries and research institutes in the hopes of nurturing higher value-added industries, he added.
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for