Chunghwa Telecom has partnered with Astranis to build a geostationary communications satellite dedicated to serving Taiwan.
The agreement represents a strategic shift for Chunghwa Telecom to broaden coverage and strengthen network resilience. The satellite is scheduled for launch by the end of 2025, with full bandwidth services expected to begin shortly thereafter.
Chunghwa Telecom says this will be the first communications satellite designed specifically to serve Taiwan and will form part of Astranis’ Block 3 batch of satellites, which are planned to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 later this year.
Astranis spokesperson Christian Keil confirmed the Chunghwa contract is the company’s largest commercial deal to date. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Keil noted that Chunghwa is paying a premium because of the urgency of the deployment and the mission’s national importance.
The satellite will operate on Ka-band frequencies and will integrate into Chunghwa’s growing non-terrestrial network architecture, which already combines assets across geostationary orbit (including ST-2), low Earth orbit (via OneWeb), and medium Earth orbit (through SES).
Chunghwa Telecom says the collaboration supports its broader objective of building a resilient non-terrestrial network to reinforce Taiwan’s “Sky, Land, Sea, and Air” infrastructure. The satellite is intended to maintain connectivity during natural disasters and other events that could disrupt undersea cables or terrestrial links.
Chunghwa’s chairman, Alex C.C. Chien, said integrating a MicroGEO satellite into the company’s network will help develop secure communications infrastructure for the island and provide critical backup capabilities amid growing geopolitical and environmental uncertainty.
Astranis CEO John Gedmark emphasized the company’s mission to provide dedicated, independent satellite capacity where regions need secure connectivity. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its own small geostationary satellites and leases capacity directly to customers.
Astranis’ MicroGEO satellites are smaller than traditional geostationary spacecraft and are optimized to serve regional markets. The satellite for Chunghwa will join four other payloads in the Block 3 launch: two for Mexico’s Apco Networks, one for Thailand’s Thaicom, and one for Orbits Corp in the Philippines.
The company has been ramping up production, but recent deployments have faced challenges. Earlier this year Astranis reported that its Block 2 satellites had begun using electric propulsion to reach geostationary orbit. Satellite-tracking data from CelesTrak indicates one Block 2 vehicle, UtilitySat, has not changed its orbital parameters since mid-February.
Astranis says UtilitySat is functional and in a safe state, and that its orbit-raising burn was paused while engineers address a technical issue. The company has not provided detailed information about the problem but says its other Block 2 satellites are proceeding as planned.
UtilitySat was introduced as a temporary replacement for a previous satellite that suffered a solar array failure and was intended to provide internet services over Alaska. It was meant to bridge service while a new satellite was built for Pacific Dataport, but launch delays and a reconfiguration of the Block 3 payload manifest delayed those plans.
Despite these setbacks, Astranis continues to position its smaller geostationary satellites as a cost-effective and flexible alternative to larger, more traditional systems for regional connectivity needs.
(Photo credit: NASA)
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