Developing Taiwan’s own ‘Starlink’ crucial for island-wide emergency, space agency says

Hsinchu, Taiwan CNN —

Taiwan’s 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 China.

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.”

Starlink has proved crucial for Ukrainian forces defending their homeland from Russia's invasion.

A vulnerable network

Taiwan’s unique geopolitical landscape and location, about 100 miles off