The success of SpaceX's Starlink has helped Taiwan-based electronics manufacturers to tap into the international satellite market. According to Taiwan-based suppliers, SpaceX is Taiwan's largest source of satellite-related orders. However, these suppliers indicated that SpaceX's domination in the sector as well as its "Apple-like" closed ecosystem will offer limited long-term benefits for Taiwan's supply chain, denting earlier hopes that the LEO satellite industry will replicate the successes seen in the notebook and smartphone sectors.
As Starlink adapts an Apple-like strategy to develop hardware and software platforms on its own, without a competing Android-like ecosystem, the volume of orders can hardly scale up, according to Taiwan-based suppliers. Currently, satellite manufacturing and launching service together account for less than 10% of global satellite revenue, while ground equipment and satellite service respectively accounts for around 53% and 40% of the market. Taiwan-based suppliers believe that the two sectors have the greatest potential to attract more suppliers and grow, boosting adaption and giving rise to more application scenarios in the process - replicating the heydays of smartphone and notebook industries.
Currently, Starlink operates around 4,000 satellites in orbit, while its planned constellation is made up of around 42,000 satellites. OneWeb, another satellite communication network operator, has approximately 400 satellites in orbit, planning to bring the number to 648. Project Kuiper, Amazon's own satellite communication network project, aims to launch its first satellite in 2024, eventually aiming for 3,236 satellites in the constellation. While OneWeb outsourced the manufacturing of its ground equipment, both SpaceX and Amazon opted to design and produce them in house. Amazon even designed a customized ASIC known as 'Prometheus'' to be used in Project Kuiper's terminals, satellites, and base stations.
Given the latest progress in non-terrestrial network (NTN) standardization at 3GPP though, it is foreseeable that Taiwan-based suppliers will still have significant roles to play in the satellite communication industry as satellite connectivity on smartphones gains traction. Earlier this month, MediaTek just released a white paper exploring satellite and terrestrial network convergence, calling for 6G NTN to be natively considered from the beginning of the 6G physical/protocol layer design stage. In the paper, MediaTek identified four major new technology areas for 6G that can further enhance NTN: efficient waveform design, enhanced mobility, massive satellite beamforming, and cellular/satellite spectrum sharing.
