Defend against China's cable breakage! Chunghwa Telecom has partnered with Astranis and SpaceX to develop Taiwan's communications satellite, which will be launched by the end of 2025

Chunghwa Telecom announced a partnership with U.S. satellite startup Astranis on 4/15 and invested $1.15 to build Taiwan's first dedicated communications satellite, which is expected to be launched by the end of 2025 and fully operational in 2026. At the same time, it serves as a real-time backup communication system against natural disasters, submarine cable outages or geopolitical risks.

Cooperation highlight: Taiwan's exclusive MicroGEO satellite

Satellite type: Small geosynchronous orbit satellite (MicroGEO) with rapid deployment, high performance and reliability.

Investment amount: $115 million.

Launch schedule: Expected to be launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in late 2025, with full bandwidth service available in early 2026.

Mission Objective: To provide Taiwan's own island, outlying islands, maritime and government agencies with backup communication capabilities, and strengthen national communication resilience.

Why Astranis

Astranis focuses on building small, high-performance geosynchronous orbit satellites, and because MicroGEO satellites are quick to deploy and cost-effective, they are suitable for regional market needs.

This cooperation with Chunghwa Telecom is the largest commercial contract signed by Astranis to date, demonstrating its technical strength and market trust.

Background: Submarine cable outages and communication backup needs

Recently, there have been many incidents in Taiwan where submarine cables have been damaged by suspected Chinese vessels, which has led to the interruption of communication on the outlying islands and aroused domestic attention to the communication backup system.

In addition, Taiwan originally cooperated with the UK's OneWeb on the low-orbit satellite program, but due to insufficient bandwidth and financial problems, the progress of cooperation was limited.

This cooperation with Astranis complements the communication capabilities of high-orbit satellites and forms a multi-track communication network with existing medium-orbit (SES) and low-orbit (OneWeb) systems.

Future prospects: Build a complete space communication defense line

Taiwan is actively promoting the development of the space industry, planning to launch two communications satellites by 2026 and establish a homegrown rocket launch site within five years.

In addition, Taiwan is also negotiating cooperation with Amazon's Kuiper program to seek more low-orbit satellite communication resources and gradually establish a multi-level communication backup system.

This article Defending Against China's Cable Break Threat! Chunghwa Telecom cooperated with Astranis and SpaceX to develop Taiwan's communications satellite, which was launched at the end of 2025 and first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.