In October 2025, Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) will launch Formosat-8A, the nation's first domestically developed optical remote sensing satellite. Three homegrown 8U CubeSats—Bellbird-1, Black Kite-1, and TORO-1—will share the ride, developed under TASA's "Startup Star Catcher" initiative to foster local space hardware capabilities.
Taiwan's defense ministry plans to procure 48,750 drones across five categories through 2027 with a budget exceeding US$1.68 billion, attracting manufacturers globally as the island bolsters military capabilities amid rising tensions with China.
China's defense industry is transitioning from domestic-focused growth to global competition through artificial intelligence integration and civil-military technology fusion, prompting South Korea to reassess its strategy for achieving its goal of becoming a top four arms exporters worldwide.
Taiwan marked a key milestone in its space development ambitions on July 27, 2025, with the official opening of a new rocket assembly plant and refurbished launch control center in Hsuhai Village in Pingtung County. The facility strengthens the island's space infrastructure and signals progress toward achieving independent launch capabilities.
Taiwan's defense ministry has expanded drone procurement sixteenfold to 48,000 units from an initial 3,000, testing domestic manufacturers' ability to rapidly scale production amid heightened military tensions with China.
Taiwan's push to decouple its drone supply chain from China is yielding significant results. Drone exports from the island surged more than sevenfold in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with Poland and the US emerging as top buyers, government data showed.
The global counter-drone systems market is projected to reach US$14.32 billion by 2032 as small unmanned aerial vehicles transform modern warfare, driving demand for detection and neutralization technologies among military and security agencies worldwide.
As generative AI tools like ChatGPT capture global attention, a new frontier is emerging—physical AI, or artificial intelligence that can interact with the real world. While large language models are skilled at understanding and reasoning with words, they fall short when it comes to responding to real-world events in real time.
More than three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, peace remains out of reach—and fears of another flashpoint are growing in the Taiwan Strait. With backing from the US, Taiwan is stepping up its military readiness, extending mandatory conscription, and increasing defense spending to sharpen its asymmetric warfare capabilities.
Taiwan is renewing its efforts to bring Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service to the island, as the Executive Yuan approved a sweeping six-year NT$27 billion (approximately US$923 million) investment in next-generation communications technology last week. The plan aims to attract at least three international low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations by 2030, and Starlink, the world's largest LEO provider, is once again in the spotlight.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense disclosed two previously unreported unmanned aerial vehicles during the recent Han Kuang 41 military exercise, underscoring the increasing use of commercially developed drones in military operations. The revealed models consist of a small quadcopter intended for urban reconnaissance and a fixed-wing drone designed for extended ground-based surveillance missions.
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense has launched a massive drone procurement drive, planning to purchase 48,000 military-grade commercial drones over the next two years—a 16-fold increase from its previous 3,000-unit order that challenges local manufacturers to rapidly scale production.
South Korea's ambitions to build a self-sufficient drone supply chain have hit a critical bottleneck just three months after China imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements in April 2025. The curbs have complicated efforts to produce key components domestically, raising concerns over the feasibility of Seoul's drone localization strategy.
A recent surge in the cost of Chinese-made drone components has reignited concerns in South Korea over its overwhelming reliance on China for critical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) parts. South Korea is accelerating efforts to boost domestic manufacturing capabilities and enhance collaboration with the US to fortify its drone industry and mitigate strategic risks.
Drones have become a dominant force on the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, highlighted by Ukraine's successful strikes on Russian air bases. The impact of these developments extends well beyond military engagements, disrupting global supply chains and accelerating a broader shift away from components manufactured in China.
HY Tech unveiled its SkyVTOL 2 electric long-range drone, highlighting Taiwan's growing capabilities in unmanned aerial vehicle development as the island seeks to strengthen its defense industry. The Taipei-based company's latest model can carry 5-kilogram payloads for logistics applications while also serving potential military reconnaissance roles.
Taiwan's Hsuan Yuan Tech Co., a drone systems integrator and component developer, is targeting the US and European markets as global demand shifts from complete aircraft to high-value modules amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The US is intensifying efforts to reshape the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) landscape, tightening oversight of the drone supply chain in a bid to reclaim technological leadership and fortify national security. At the center of this strategy is the Blue UAS Cleared List—a Defense Department-approved roster of drone makers deemed safe for government use. While inclusion isn't limited to US companies, industry officials say the criteria have quietly expanded to favor American-made drones, pushing foreign suppliers to bring production stateside if they want access to the lucrative US market.
Taiwan's Mildex Optical, a specialized touch panel manufacturer, has successfully transferred US tariff costs to its military and industrial customers, helping preserve margins as the company pivots toward higher-value niche markets.
The US Commerce Department launched investigations into imports of drones, parts for unmanned aerial vehicles and for polysilicon, a key material for solar power, setting the stage for possible tariffs on those goods.
A wave of next-generation defense contracts from the US Department of Defense is poised to transform the global unmanned systems industry in 2025, and Taiwan may play a pivotal role. With the Pentagon expected to release a large volume of unmanned vehicle orders next year, US defense tech startups are racing to secure production capacity. Many of these firms, while brimming with innovation, face significant constraints in manufacturing scale, opening the door for Taiwan's precision-driven, China-free supply chain.
As global demand for unmanned aerial systems accelerates, Taiwan is positioning itself as a potential cornerstone in the Pentagon's Replicator initiative—a program launched in 2023 to deploy thousands of small, low-cost, and reusable drones by 2025.
China's Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday added eight Taiwanese defense contractors to its export control entity list, marking Beijing's latest effort to pressure the island's military-industrial complex despite minimal existing commercial relationships.
China's Ministry of Commerce imposed export restrictions on eight Taiwan-based defense contractors, including Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., cutting off access to dual-use materials and rare earth elements.
