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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Developing Taiwan’s own ‘Starlink’ crucial for island-wide | |
emergency, space agency says | |
By Eric Cheung, CNN | |
Updated: | |
10:21 PM EDT, Sat May 4, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
leaders are working on an ambitious new satellite system to keep the | |
island online in case of disaster, as it deals with the constant threat | |
of hostilities with . | |
Wu Jong-shinn, director-general of the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), told | |
CNN in an exclusive interview that Taiwan is at an “experimental | |
development stage” in efforts to build new indigenous communication | |
satellites. | |
Once the system is up and running, it could work in a similar way to | |
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system in providing internet access | |
– albeit at a much smaller scale, said Wu, who has led Taiwan’s | |
space programs since 2021. | |
Starlink, operated by Musk’s SpaceX, uses a network of thousands of | |
satellites to deliver the internet to users all over the world, | |
including areas where conventional connections are unavailable. | |
It has been used by Ukraine’s military on battlefronts as it defends | |
against Russia’s invasion. In Gaza, devastated by Israel’s war | |
against Hamas, it has allowed staff at a field hospital to conduct | |
real-time video medical consultations. | |
But Taiwan does not have access to Starlink because SpaceX insisted on | |
having majority ownership over a proposed joint venture, a demand | |
incompatible with local Taiwanese laws. This was part of the reason | |
Taiwan developed its own technology. | |
“The communication satellite is very important for our communication | |
resilience during urgent periods,” Wu said, calling it his agency’s | |
most sensitive project. “That’s very important for us, so we take | |
it very, very seriously.” | |
A vulnerable network | |
Taiwan’s unique geopolitical landscape and location, about 100 miles | |
off the coast of China, adds urgency to an ambitious project. China’s | |
ruling Communist Party claims the island as part of its territory, and | |
has repeatedly vowed to take it by force, if necessary. | |
Currently, Taiwan’s connectivity is served by that link it with the | |
rest of the world. But these cables are susceptible to damage. Last | |
year, a group of outlying Taiwanese islands were after two submarine | |
cables connecting them to Taiwan’s main island were damaged by | |
passing ships. | |
High-speed internet is crucial to the normal function of any society | |
but, in Taiwan’s case, a deliberate attempt to sabotage the system | |
could have other repercussions. In a report published by the Institute | |
for National Defense and Security Research, a Taiwanese | |
government-affiliated research body, experts that if Beijing were to | |
cut internet cables around Taiwan, it could disrupt regular | |
communications and cause widespread panic. | |
Taiwanese authorities previously announced the space agency would | |
develop two communication satellites, the first of which could be | |
launched by 2026. Afterward, it would also assist private companies | |
with the launch of four additional satellites to help them make inroads | |
into the industry. However, Taiwan would need to send hundreds of | |
satellites if it were to create a system that provides uninterrupted | |
backup internet access, experts told CNN. | |
Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University, | |
estimated that Taiwan would need at least 50 satellites to provide | |
“fairly decent” emergency coverage with its own satellite | |
constellation – and the more the better. | |
“In order to really have the reliability bandwidth, so that everyone | |
can service it, you’re going to need quite a lot more [satellites], | |
you’re probably talking about in the hundreds,” he said. | |
“If a country is dedicated to it, it could definitely complete it,” | |
he added. “Because the hard part is really just getting the funding | |
to launch them all.” | |
Su Tzu-yun, a director of Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and | |
Security Research, said while it would be “unrealistic” to think | |
Taiwan would be able to provide all-round internet coverage with just a | |
few indigenous satellites, the space project is valuable in the long | |
run. | |
“Taiwan’s development in this area is very meaningful, because it | |
allows us to enter the space industry and provides greater flexibility | |
for our military to access communication systems in our weapons | |
development in the future,” he said. | |
And before Taiwan achieves that capability, the island can still | |
provide backup connectivity in the foreseeable future by partnering | |
with OneWeb, a satellite communications system headquartered in | |
London, and other maritime satellite systems, he added. | |
Bolstering resilience | |
Ensuring that Taiwan’s communication systems stay functional in | |
extraordinary times has been a growing priority for the island’s top | |
leaders in recent years. Besides tasking the space agency with the | |
satellite project, the Taiwanese government established a digital | |
affairs ministry in 2022 to boost communication resilience. That | |
ministry has been with overseas satellite service providers and | |
installing new terminal equipment in remote locations of Taiwan to | |
provide connectivity. | |
By the end of 2024, 700 hot spots will be established across the island | |
to allow for satellite communications during emergency situations, | |
authorities announced in March. The initiative proved useful during a | |
magnitude that hit eastern Taiwan in early April. | |
While traditional communication systems were disrupted near the | |
epicenter, authorities successfully used OneWeb to provide emergency | |
internet access for rescuers and stranded personnel. | |
In the future, Taiwan’s satellite system could replace third-party | |
deals, but Wu, the space agency director, declined to provide more | |
specific details about the project’s timeline. According to people | |
familiar with the matter, the new administration is set to release an | |
updated blueprint and timeline of its space programs, including its | |
communication satellite project, after Taiwan’s President-elect Lai | |
Ching-te takes office on May 20. | |
Big ambitions in space | |
Taiwan’s space ambitions extend beyond developing indigenous | |
communication satellites. | |
Wu said a key objective has been to create a new industry in Taiwan | |
that can capture growing opportunities in space projects | |
internationally. Last year, President Tsai Ing-wen a NT$25.1 billion | |
($790 million) investment in the island’s space programs in the | |
coming decade, with the goal of assisting companies in various | |
industries – including chip design and precision machinery – to | |
enter the space industry. | |
Despite its relatively small size, Wu believes Taiwan is a desirable | |
location to develop space projects because of its undisputed role as a | |
leader in advanced semiconductor chips – which are needed to power | |
everything from computers to artificial intelligence. | |
One Taiwanese firm in particular, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing | |
Company (TSMC), produces an estimated 90% of the world’s | |
super-advanced semiconductors and supplies to global tech giants such | |
as Apple and Nvidia. | |
Besides semiconductors, Wu believes Taiwan’s advances in information | |
technology and precision machinery also provide advantages to the | |
development of its space industry. | |
“Satellites are very complicated systems,” he said. “In a | |
satellite, you have 20,000 to 30,000 components. Once you send it into | |
space, there is no way you can call it back and repair it, so it’s | |
very tough, and it’s very expensive.” | |
To accelerate its development, Taiwan’s space agency has also been | |
working to develop a rocket system that can launch satellites into | |
space. Taiwan has relied on overseas providers to send its satellites | |
into space, such as the Triton, an indigenous weather satellite | |
launched last year from French Guiana in South America. | |
“We are working on a launch vehicle, and we intend to launch rockets | |
into our low-Earth orbit starting in 2030,” Wu said, to satellite | |
orbits with an altitude lower than 1,000km above Earth. Once Taiwan | |
possesses that technology, it will be able to conduct test flights more | |
frequently. | |
“We do have a solid foundation, and right now, I think we are ready | |
to take on the adventure more aggressively,” he added. | |
CNN’s Will Ripley and John Mees contributed to this report. | |
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