Taiwan lifts satellite ownership caps, opening door for Starlink and Amazon

The legislative pivot acknowledges that Taiwan’s current satellite partnerships lack the scale necessary for wartime or emergency communication resilience. By removing ownership barriers, Taiwan is essentially inviting SpaceX and Amazon's Project Kuiper (Amazon LEO) to fill critical infrastructure gaps left by undersea cable vulnerabilities. However, the ecosystem remains tense: the NCC's 'case-by-case' approval process suggests a regulatory hedge against Elon Musk's business ties to China. For the streaming and data delivery industry, this clears a massive bottleneck for LEO-based CDN and delivery services in a high-density, tech-forward market. Watch for whether Starlink submits a license application to the NCC, which would signal a shift in its 'low-priority' stance on Taiwan.

The regulatory shift comes as Taiwan aggressively seeks alternatives to its heavy reliance on undersea cables, which serve as its primary data link to the world. Per Nikkei Asia (July 2026), several undersea cables have been damaged in recent years, with some incidents involving ships linked to China, raising alarms about potential communication blockades. Since 2023, the Taiwanese government has cultivated a multi-orbit strategy, though existing options have faced hurdles. For instance, Chunghwa Telecom secured a commercial license for Eutelsat OneWeb services in mid-2025, but state officials recently noted that the project's bandwidth capacity and financial stability may not fully meet national high-volume needs, per Domino Theory (December 2024).

Alternative LEO constellations are also nearing operational status in the region. Amazon's satellite division, rebranded as Amazon LEO (formerly Project Kuiper), has secured distribution rights with Far EasTone and aims for a 2027 commercial launch in Taiwan, according to Digitimes (May 2026). As of July 2026, Amazon had launched nearly 400 production satellites, moving toward its FCC milestone to deploy half of its 3,236-satellite constellation. Meanwhile, Canada’s Telesat is expected to begin launches for its 198-satellite 'Lightspeed' network in mid-2026, further diversifying the competitive landscape.

Despite the legislative opening, Starlink’s entry is not guaranteed. Digital Affairs Minister Lin Yi-jing reported in May 2026 that the company previously viewed Taiwan as a low-priority market due to its small landmass and near-universal 4G/5G mobile coverage, per Straits Times (July 2026). Furthermore, the Legislative Yuan adopted a supplementary resolution requiring ground receiving stations and onshore data localization for any foreign provider, creating a high bar for compliance that aligns with Taiwan’s broader digital nation resilience goals.