Fifty years ago, Taiwan bet on silicon and won. Now a new high-stakes industry is taking shape above our heads. Taiwanese teams are building satellites, startups are selling access to launch, and the government wants Taiwan to become part of the space supply chain. But space is expensive and unforgiving, and the biggest players are already far ahead.
Host: Victoria Liu
Guests:
Professor Lu Wen-Chi (Chair of the Department of Aircraft Engineering at National Formosa University)
Bill Chang (Founder and CEO of HelioX Cosmos)
On this episode of The Chain Maker, we unpack:
✅ How a university team’s CubeSat, NUTSat, went from classroom project to orbit
✅ Why young Taiwanese engineers are strong in R&D and precision manufacturing, but need teamwork and real-world experience
✅ How the “space grocery store” model lets customers buy a few kilograms of launch capacity instead of a whole rocket
✅ Why Bill says the Moon is the next battlefield, and why Taiwan “cannot lose this chance”
✅ Why access to launch is the single biggest constraint, and why talent keeps flowing to semiconductors
✅ What practical steps Taiwan can take in the next two years
27:00
