Render of the Taiwan Space Agency’s (TASA) Beyond 5G (B5G) LEO communications satellite. Photo: TASA

CesiumAstro has entered a contract with the Taiwan Space Agency to supply software-defined payloads and ground user terminals for Taiwan’s experimental Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite program. 

CesiumAstro, headquartered in Texas, announced the award on Tuesday to supply its Vireo Ka-band space payload and Skylark user terminals for Taiwan’s Beyond 5G (B5G) LEO satellite program. CesiumAstro did not specify the number of terminals involved or the dollar value of the agreement. 

The B5G program is led by the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) and aims to develop two LEO communication experimental satellites to launch in 2027 and 2028. The B5G program is a step toward Taiwan’s effort to build sovereign LEO communications infrastructure. 

“We are honored to support TASA’s vision for next-generation communications,” said Shey Sabripour, founder and CEO of CesiumAstro. “Our modular, flight-proven payload technologies align with TASA’s goals for performance, flexibility, and future scalability, and we look forward to delivering systems that support their ambitions for 5G and beyond.”

Taiwan has a stated national interest in LEO communications. In late 2023, Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president at the time, pledged $1.2 billion to fund LEO satellite research and a national launch facility. Telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom has a distribution agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb.