Thatâs a good point. Getting satellites into low earth orbit is definitely a bottleneck in the process.
Taiwan has really good geography for launching satellites, and SpaceX stuff is basically public domain, not really protected by patents and such. Anyone with the resources could almost duplicate SpaceX.
My question is why isnât a space port built in Taiwan?
where can we find their public domain designs?
I suspect itâs the usual half-remembered/poorly worded stuff and he was talking about some combination of the company releasing its images into the public domain without copyright restrictions (later changed to non-commercial use, apparently) and it not really going out of its way to aggressively patent and enforce patents on its core technologies as some companies might. I doubt the designs are all public domain as suggested.
I mean certain stuff thatâs ITAR regulated canât just be published in the open, but Iâm sure Taiwan is capable of building rocketsâŚ
I donât get this? How is Taiwan good for rocket launches?
Taiwan has direct access to the pacific ocean, with nobody to complain about dropping stuff on their head. China has no such location, and must often either pay people to evacuate, or just drop stuff on them anyways. You need something like 2000+ miles of clear corridor in order to launch to orbit. Thereâs a reason why normal orbit launch is done from Florida, same clear lane, and that polar orbit stuff is done from Vandenburg.
Might be worth looking at a map, or reading about how China launches the satellites it launches.
The goverment establshed TASA to launch the rocket ourselves.
That doesnât really answer the question regarding their stuff being basically public domain. ;). But regardless, you can have patents with parts subject to invention secrecy orders for issues like ITAR, and you can have classified patents.
According to this article Taiwan is still in talks with Starlink. They say current OneWeb bandwidth is too lame. Now they are hoping for Bezos Project Kuiper. But Amazon has only launched 2 test satellites. They need to launch 1618 satellites in the next 1,5 years to be in compliance with FCC license. I think there might be some hiccups and they have to rely more on SpaceX to help them hit their launch targets.
Maybe Taiwan can just buy a few Starlink satellite to satisfy legal requirements to have x% of local ownershipâŚ
Especially if tw bureaucracy cripples any local startups trying to do just that. I remember a couple of years ago TI Space tried to get permits to build a launch facility here and couldnât get past the red tape so they went to Australia.
Rocketry is impossible in Taiwan, probably because of the tense military situation.
Itâs a shame because Taiwan is actually a great place to launch. Australia is not as good. You want to be as close to the equator as possible.
Basically youâre not going to be doing it unless you are government.
Itâs always unfortunate when a bunch of bureaucrats who have 0 clue on running a business get in the way.