TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis has signed a $115 million deal to deliver Taiwan’s first dedicated communications spacecraft, the company announced April 15, amid an issue with a separate small geostationary satellite launched late last year.
The Ka-band satellite for Taiwanese telco Chunghwa Telecom joins a batch of five spacecraft that SpaceX is slated to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket by the end of the year, collectively called Block 3.
It is the California-based manufacturer’s largest commercial deal yet, Astranis spokesperson Christian Keil said via email, with Chunghwa paying more than others because of “a mix of a very fast delivery time & a mission-critical use case.”
Alex Chien, Chunghwa’s chair, said the dishwasher-sized spacecraft would bring more flexibility and resilience to the telco’s multi-orbit satellite strategy, which includes the aging Japan-built ST-2 geostationary satellite, medium Earth orbit capacity from SES and OneWeb’s low Earth orbit services.
“This collaboration enables us to build a dedicated, secure digital infrastructure for Taiwan,” he said in a statement, “one that can serve as a critical real-time backup against natural disasters, submarine cable disruptions, and evolving global uncertainties.”
Satellite troubleshooting
Astranis said in January that all four recently launched Block 2 satellites had begun using onboard electric propulsion to reach geostationary orbit in the coming months, after passing early tests.
However, according to the nonprofit CelesTrak, there has been no change in altitude, inclination or eccentricity for one of these satellites, UtilitySat, since mid-February.
“The satellite is healthy and in a safe state,” Keil said. “We’re troubleshooting an issue and have paused its orbit raise, as we’re taking time to fully diagnose and address the issue before beginning orbit raise again.”
He declined to provide further details but said the other three Block 2 satellites were orbit-raising nominally.
Astranis announced UtilitySat in 2023 following a solar array failure on its debut spacecraft, which had been due to provide commercial broadband over Alaska for local telco Pacific Dataport Inc. (PDI).
UtilitySat was designed with Ka-, Ku-, Q- and V-band transponders to support a variety of mission needs.
Astranis had initially planned to use UtilitySat to provide temporary services over Alaska while developing a full replacement for PDI.
However, the Block 2 launch was ultimately delayed about a year to December 2024, and an earlier plan to fly a PDI replacement on Block 3 also did not materialize.
“There is not a replacement for PDI on the launch docket,” Keil said, “the two parties haven’t agreed to new terms for another satellite yet.”
Joining Chunghwa in Block 3 are two satellites for Mexican telco Apco Networks, one for Thailand’s Thaicom and another for Orbits Corp of the Philippines, which also has a Block 2 satellite slated to come online later this year.
Astranis operates the satellites it builds, providing their capacity to customers via long-term leases. Its spacecraft — much smaller than traditional geostationary satellites the size of a school bus — are tailored for regional markets and customers seeking more flexible solutions.
SpaceNews Senior Staff Writer Jeff Foust contributed to this article from Greenbelt, Maryland.
