CONNECT WITH US
The aerospace industry's pursuit of lighter structures has long centered on advanced alloys, composites and additive manufacturing. But as aircraft and spacecraft shed weight, another manufacturing challenge becomes harder to ignore: the interface between the materials themselves.
Aircraft and spacecraft may be judged by thrust, payload capacity, and range, but the German Industry Solutions Session held at Automation Taipei 2026 on August 20 suggested that some of aerospace manufacturing's most consequential advances are taking place somewhere far less visible: inside connectors, bonded joints, laser-processed surfaces, dispensing paths, and robotic assembly cells.
Japan may not possess the industrial scale or launch economics of satellite giants such as SpaceX, but the country has established its own development mechanism around persistent experimentation, research-driven breakthroughs, and a growing concentration of aerospace talent.

The expansion of Mitsubishi Electric's satellite manufacturing business is converging with the higher launch cadence targeted for Japan's H3 program, developed jointly by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

As the AI race increasingly evolves around who can secure the most compute, develop the strongest models and convert them into commercially viable applications, SpaceX has moved another step toward controlling all three layers under one expanding ecosystem.

As SpaceX accelerates its push into space-based AI data centers and Nvidia brings Jetson GPUs into lunar exploration missions, the race to build computing infrastructure beyond Earth is moving from proof-of-concept experiments toward actual deployment.

Washington has spent years tightening controls on Chinese technology across strategically important supply chains. That playbook is now expanding into drones, where the Trump administration's latest tariffs seek not only to restrict Chinese market access but to reshape the economics of the broader unmanned-aircraft supply chain.

US President Donald Trump has moved to impose tariffs of up to 100% on drone systems and components deemed strategically sensitive. The step follows moves by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to tighten market access for foreign-made drones, including a July proposal to restrict the continued import and marketing of certain previously authorized foreign-produced drones and critical components.

Twoway Communications said its July 2026 consolidated revenue was NT$139 million (US$4.3 million), down 0.4% from a year earlier. For January to July 2026, consolidated revenue reached NT$1.1 billion, up 35.0% from the same period in 2025.

Taiwan's government approved a four-year ocean technology and industry development program for 2027-2030 and will seek more than NT$8 billion in funding. The plan was designed to strengthen maritime security, expand scientific research, and improve industrial competitiveness as Taipei responds to growing pressure in its surrounding waters.
Vietnamese aerospace startup VinSpace has signed a contract with SpaceX to launch its first satellites in 2027. Bloomberg reported that the payloads will fly on a SpaceX Transporter mission, a rideshare service that carries multiple customers on a single launch.