Taiwan is actively working on creating its own satellite internet network

Taiwan is racing to build an alternative to Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The island democracy urgently needs an internet backup due to its fragile infrastructure and constant cyber threats. Taiwan experiences regular cyberattacks and near-daily incursions into its waters and airspace by the People’s Liberation Army. Last year, the outlying Matsu islands endured patchy internet for months after two undersea internet cables broke. The war in Ukraine amplified the sense of vulnerability weighing on Taiwan’s leaders. Taiwan’s government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute is leading the effort to build a satellite network they could control. President Tsai Ing-wen pledged $1.3 billion for Taiwan’s space program to develop the best of these tests into a satellite internet network entirely made and controlled from Taiwan.