Taiwan plans to build its own communication satellite program, which some have compared to SpaceX's Starlink system. Reporter Chris Gorin spoke to analyst Jyh-Shyang Sheu from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research to learn more.
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00:00Taiwan's space agency is planning to launch six low-Earth orbit satellites from 2026.
00:05The move is part of efforts to strengthen the country's emergency communication system in case
00:10of crises. The agency says it will also bolster the country's space industry.
00:15Taiwan currently relies on 15 subsea cables for connectivity,
00:20which are vulnerable to being damaged or cut.
00:23The program aims to gain uninterrupted coverage, which would require at least 120 satellites.
00:30To learn more about Taiwan's communication satellite program,
00:33reporter Chris Goran spoke to analyst Zhixiang Shi
00:36from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
00:40The Taiwan Space Agency or TASA has just announced that they plan to launch six
00:45new communication satellites starting in 2026. What are Taiwan's current satellite
00:51capabilities like and why is TASA focused on these communication satellites right now?
00:56Taiwan's space agency, the TASA, is actually a 30-year-old organization.
01:01But the Taiwanese government is focusing on space development just, you know,
01:06since recent years, the government put much more budget than before.
01:10So we don't really have a lot of satellites, but more than 1,000 we have.
01:15And they are mainly so-called weather satellites or Earth observation satellites.
01:20Communication is actually one of the most critical elements in modern society.
01:25In particular, you know, all our technological life in the future will highly rely on internet.
01:31If you look at the battlefield in Ukraine, you will find that SpaceX and its
01:35starting system play a crucial role to support the Ukrainian government, society and military
01:42survive from a war and maintain the basic function of the whole society,
01:46you know, like financial, hospital system and so on.
01:50TASA's plan is to build its own domestically made satellite communication system,
01:54similar to SpaceX's Starlink.
01:57But SpaceX already has the industry-leading system. Why not just use theirs?
02:01In our telecommunication law, the Taiwanese government asked a foreign company
02:06to create a joint venture in Taiwan.
02:09And the Taiwanese government or Taiwanese stakeholders should have more than 50%.
02:14For a Taiwanese government, that is quite important to make sure
02:17even in the most critical time, the system could still work.
02:21But, you know, SpaceX want to hold the whole 100%.
02:24So in that sense, I think there are still no consensus between Taiwanese government and SpaceX.
02:29That is also the reason that the Taiwanese program of communication resilience
02:33choose OneWeb instead of SpaceX.
02:36Speaking of OneWeb, the satellite company from the UK,
02:39their systems were recently used during rescue operations after the earthquakes in eastern Taiwan.
02:45How useful are these systems during natural disasters?
02:48Well, I think this is quite critical, just like in Ukraine.
02:53Because, you know, in wartime or in natural disasters,
02:57many infrastructure might be damaged or be destroyed in this emergency time.
03:02To maintain the communication is the most critical thing.
03:05So in that sense, this kind of a new space communication system like OneWeb or Starlink
03:11will be very important for the rescue and also for the rescue mission
03:16and also to keep the whole society worse.
03:18The head of TASA announced six new communication satellites.
03:22But how many would it take to make this a reliable system that would work
03:25even if China or anyone else tried to interfere with it?
03:29Well, actually, if you look at the, you know, Director General Wu Zhongxin, what he said before,
03:34actually, we need at least 50 or 60 satellites.
03:38But now we know that they claim for maybe 100 or 120.
03:42That means for the resilience, we need more than 50, 60,
03:47because we need redundancy to make sure the whole system will work,
03:50even with some jamming or even with some, you know, anti-satellite technologies and so on.