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.”
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
RSS