Taiwan Seeking To Create Satellite Constellation Similar To Elon Musk's Starlink - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th January, 2023) Taiwan is looking for investors to create its own satellite communications provider, inspired by the work of Elon Musk's Starlink in Ukraine, to repel China's possible attacks, The Financial Times reported on Friday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Taipei is currently in talks with a few domestic and international investors to raise funds for the project, with Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) eyeing to use its existing satellite division for the project.

"We are going to spin our low-Earth orbit satellite communications project off into a company," a senior official at TASA told the media.

Audrey Tang, the digital minister of Taiwan, said the project was inspired by Starlink.

"We look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how Starlink has been used very successfully," the newspaper quoted the minister.

The minister added that it would take several years to bring the project to life.

"Our Primary concern ... is facilitating the societal resilience, to make sure for example that journalists can send videos to ... international viewers even during a large-scale disaster," Tang said, adding that the system would also support "telephoning and videoconferencing � think (Ukrainian president Volodymyr) Zelenskyy's daily addresses."

SpaceX seeks to operate a network of 29,988 non-geostationary orbit satellites for its Starlink constellation, which provides internet to areas with little to no access. Starlink currently has some 3,500 satellites active in low-Earth orbit.

Starlink has been playing a key role in helping Ukraine's military to operate and communicate on the battlefield, however, in September, SpaceX sent a letter to the US Defense Department requesting funding for the Starlink systems in Ukraine, claiming it could no longer pay for the service out of pocket. Musk later withdrew the request.