Beyond 5G: test the complete communications link

Taiwan’s Beyond 5G, or B5G, program is developing two experimental low-Earth-orbit communications satellites, called 1A and 1B. TASA’s description reviewed on October 15, 2026 lists planned launches in 2028 and 2030. Its purpose includes demonstrating communications technology and developing industrial capability. An experimental pair is not automatically a worldwide commercial network with continuous service for every user.

TASA is responsible for spacecraft systems, integration, launch services and operations. The program description distinguishes a purchased advanced communications payload for 1A from a 1B payload developed with domestic industry and research partners. A satellite’s national program identity does not mean every subsystem has the same supplier. Identifying those responsibilities makes technological cooperation and local capability easier to understand.

In January 2026, contractor YTTEK described engineering verification work on a prototype baseband module for the program. A baseband module processes communications information within the signal chain. That update documents an assigned development role and an engineering stage; it is not a report that the complete satellite service is available. Contracts, prototypes and operational results answer different questions.

A usable connection also needs compatible ground equipment, antennas, power, control and a route into the network used by the customer. Each part can constrain the result. A successful payload bench test cannot alone demonstrate a complete connection through a moving satellite to a remote terminal. End-to-end tests help establish that the combined system performs the intended task under stated conditions.

Trace an experimental communications service

Suppose a fictional demonstration has 80 megabits per second of usable capacity shared equally among four simultaneous users. Each receives 20 megabits per second under that simplified assumption. Adding users does not multiply the shared capacity — open definition. Real systems also have protocol overhead, scheduling and changing link conditions; these teaching numbers are not B5G performance specifications.

Now suppose the ground terminal cannot see either experimental satellite during part of its day. More capacity during a contact does not fill the time with no usable contact. Coverage, capacity and reliability need separate evidence. A responsible demonstration report would state where the test happened, which hardware was used, what traffic was carried and how long the connection worked. That turns a broad promise of connectivity into an understandable engineering result.