The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications.
The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia.
Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors.
Photo courtesy of the Industrial Technology Research Institute
“Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has mostly been used for remote sensing and meteorological observations,” National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said.
“The research and development of communications satellite technology is indeed challenging, as it is complicated and fast-changing. As such, the government needs to take the lead, which is why it has extended the Phase III space project to 2031 and added NT$40 billion [US$1.23 billion] to the budget,” he said.
TASA Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) said the agency plans to launch the first low Earth orbit satellite in 2026 using a SpaceX rocket and the second one in 2028.
Photo: CNA
The first satellite’s body would be made in Taiwan, but the Ka bend communication payload would be built in partnership with an overseas contractor, he said.
The second satellite would be jointly developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute, which is capable of developing 4G and 5G systems, and TASA, Wu Jong-shinn said.
The total budget to launched the two rockets is NT$900 million, he said, adding that the agency hopes that the contracts for the four other satellites will be placed on auction this year.
Aside from Starlink, there are other low Earth orbit satellite service providers, many of whom are eager to set up ground stations in Taiwan.
“However, we have to try to develop the technology ourselves. That way, we would not be worried if some companies refuse to transfer it to us,” Wu Jong-shinn said.
The launch of the six low Earth orbit satellites, known as project “Beyond 5G (B5G),” would only be the beginning, Wu Tsung-tsong said.
Simulations have shown that if there are two low-orbit communication satellites, they would only hover over Taiwan for three to five minutes when orbiting the Earth, he said.
“To achieve uninterrupted communication 24 hours a day, it is obvious that six satellites would not be enough. Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to build communications resilience,” he said.
The next step is to build up the satellite communications industry, which not only includes existing electronics industry operators, but also new entrepreneurs, Wu Tsung-tsong said.
“They will see that telecommunications business opportunities in the next 10 or 20 years will be in space,” he said.
“Taiwan’s space ground equipment industry is already of considerable scale, with an output value exceeding NT$200 billion, but there is still a lot of room for growth in satellite manufacturing, rocket launch services and other fields,” he said. “Like a baseball player who can pitch and hit, Taiwan must be skilled on the ground and in space.”
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors