At the 2023 EU-Taiwan Space Opportunity Symposium on May 29, leading players in Taiwan's satellite industry gathered to explore cooperation opportunities with the European Union (EU). The event was co-organized by the European Economic and Trade Office, the EU's representative office in Taiwan, and the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA).
In his opening remarks, Dr. Jong-Shinn Wu, the Director General of TASA, highlighted that Taiwan has been developing its space industry for thirty years and possesses a strong niche competency in the international satellite market. He emphasized Taiwan's potential to leverage its mature footing in 5G-related technologies from its electronics manufacturing industry and extend into the realm of satellite communication. As a result, TASA is expanding the use of Taiwan-made components in domestic satellite manufacturing and launch programs. Formerly known as the National Space Organization, the entity underwent re-organization and officially became Taiwan Space Agency in 2023.
In his remarks, Wu also said that the space domain has recently gained a security dimension - an observation shared by his colleague Frank Lo, who oversees TASA's international cooperations. Lo observed the increasing dual-use nature of space as a result of geopolitical dynamics, noting the technological dimensions of regional security pacts like AUKUS. Referring to the recent bankruptcy of Virgin Orbit, he also warned that "all that glitters is not gold" when it comes to space industry investment.
Dr. Vesselin Vassilev, a board member of the Belgium-based non-profit organization SME4SPACE, which represents SMEs in Europe's space industry, remarked that the development of space industry has become bottom-up recently, noting the greater role played by the industry instead of governments. Commenting on EU-Taiwan cooperation in space, Vassilev highlighted the importance of aligning both sides' priorities as the greatest challenge.
Dr. Yu-Jiu Wang, the founder of Tron Future Tech and now serves as its chairman and CEO, also shared his views of the phased-array satellite communication development in Taiwan. Tron Future Tech specializes in active electronically scanned array (AESA) for drone and space applications.
Highlighting the role played by the satellite communication network Starlink in the Ukraine war and Taiwan's geoplitical circumstances, Wang emphasized the serious need for Taiwan to build its own satellite communication constellation, especially when SpaceX founder Elon Musk has previously expressed opinions that made one doubt if Starlink would come to Taiwan's aid in an event of military invasion. Wang also drew attention to Taiwan's fragile internet infrastructure, indicating that Taiwan is connected to the world through only 14 international submarine cables. Citing recent media reports on the damaged cables of Matsu islands, an archipelago of islands in East China Sea governed by Taiwan, and reports on Chinese military practice to sever Taiwan's internet, Wang emphasized the urgency of the matter.
When it comes to Taiwan's industrial capability to support TASA's mission, Wang pointed to domestic antenna assembly vendors like RapidTek, TMYTek, Wistron NeWeb, and domestic frontend IC vendors like MediaTek. In terms of baseband processors, Wang noted MediaTek and Realtek also have the required capabilities. Notably, Tron Future has the capability to support all three segments from baseband IC, frontend IC to antenna assembly. When it comes to foundry capability, Wang pointed to the gallium arsenide (GaAs) foundry Win Semiconductor, which is the world's biggest GaAs foundry with approximately 77% global market share in 2021.
Alongside its semiconductor manufacturing base, Taiwan also has domestic B5G payload and user terminal testing capabilities covering large OTA CATR (Over-The-Air Compact Antenna Test Range) chamber, radiation and thermal vaccum. Wang estimated that Tron Future will have the technological readiness to support CubeSat constellation deployment from 2026 and B5G/6G constellation deployment from 2028.
However, the Tron Future founder noted that Taiwan's satellite industry development still faces challenges in terms of domestic launch services, electronic propulsion technology for orbit maneuvering, and the laser intersatellite link serving as a constellation backbone network.
Dr. Yu-Jiu Wang, the founder of Tron Future Tech, saw the serious need to develop Taiwan's own satellite communication constellation
Dr. Jong-Shinn Wu, the Director General of Taiwan Space Agency
