Submarine Cable Map from TeleGeography
- Microsoft unveils new ‘Majorana 1’ quantum computing chip, claiming to use a new state of matter, not liquid, solid or gas / full item
- ‘Embracing the Quantum Economy’ from the World Economic Forum, and Accenture “…quantum computing alone expected to generate between $450 billion and $850 billion annually by 2035.” / full item
- PsiQuantum announces photonics solution to quantum computing chips manufacturing capable of achieving volumes needed for commercial viability, partnering GlobalFoundries / full item
- AheadComputing, co-founded by former Intel engineers and execs, raised $21.5M to build tech around RISC-V open standard chips architecture, alternative to current proprietary tech / full item
Collateral damage in semiconductor supply chains: “…in its 2019 Corporate Social Responsibility report, TSMC admitted its facilities in Hsinchu consumed 63,000 tons of water a day.” / full item
- ASML semiconductor maker is to cease publishing the most closely-watched figure in quarterly financials, new order bookings, seeing it as increasing market volatility / full item
- Globalstar, Apple’s mobile satellite service partner, inks C$1.1BN contract with a Canadian firm to produce more than 50 satellites / full item
- Vodafone claims world-first satellite video call from a regular phone, partnering Starlink rival, AST SpaceMobile, for a direct-to-smartphone service set to launch in Europe / full item
- Shares in direct-to-mobile satellite firms drop after Apple enables iPhones with a T-Mobile cellular plan to join beta tests for SpaceX Starlink service in the US / full item
- Countries Draw Battle Lines Ahead of ‘European Launch Challenge’ / full item
- Meta unveils its ‘most ambitious subsea cable endeavor yet’, Project Waterworth, connecting 5 major continents and spanning over 50,000 kilometres / full item
India: “…we have agreed on TRUST, i.e. Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology. Under this, emphasis will be laid on creating strong supply chains of critical minerals…” / full item
- An overview of Indonesia’s challenges in developing its electric vehicles-focused industries, in spite of the nation’s nickel supply chain prominence / full item
- China: Cryptography standards body launches ‘Next-generation Commercial Cryptographic Algorithms Program’, with Chinese Cryptography Standardization Technical Committee oversight / full item
Also available:
‣ Asia technology newsletters in February
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‣ Indo-Pacific Insight – geopolitics, daily
- New Zealand: Researchers are soon to test a potential game-changer in space propulsion on the ISS, combining plasma thrusters and superconducting magnets / full item
- Valar Atomics raises $19M, with a pilot small modular reactor site development contract with the Philippines Nuclear Research Institute / full item
- India: NTPC power company is looking to build 30GW of nuclear power capacity over the next two decades, 3 times more than initially planned, at a cost of $62BN / full item
- Japan’s Nat’l Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Tech and Intel partner to develop a quantum computer, with Intel providing its most advanced chips for the project / full item
- Japan takes hybrid quantum computing pole position with integration of Reimei quantum computer with Fugaku ‘traditional’ supercomputer / full item
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launches 5th satellite to further develop domestically-managed QZSS sat-nav positioning system / full item
- India’s first ‘Made-in-India’ semiconductor chip is expected to be launched by September or October this year, jointly developed by Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s PSMC / full item
- Singapore delivers 2025 fiscal budget and policy speech, pledging increased investment in industries including semiconductors, energy, and aviation / full item
- AheadComputing, co-founded by former Intel engineers and execs, raised $21.5M to build tech around RISC-V open standard chips architecture, alternative to current proprietary tech / full item
Indonesia: Project Garuda, central bank digital currency (pdf link)
- Taiwan’s semiconductor output achieved a value of $152.69 billion in 2024, up 22.4% from a year earlier / full item
- India: US chips toolmaker, Lam Research, is to invest over $1.2BN in Karnataka state, with the nation targeting semiconductor market value of $63BN by 2026 / full item
- Taiwan: ASE Technology targets $1.6BN in leading-edge advanced semiconductor packaging revenue for 2025, with testing business seeing an 18% rise in Q4 2024 alone / full item
- Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs builds on TSMC’s moves in Europe, exploring semiconductor supply chain partnerships with Germany, Czech Republic and Poland / full item
- Taiwan’s TSMC preps for OpenAI chip production using TSMC 3-nanometer process, with OpenAI targeting mass production in 2026 / full item
- Taiwan: MediaTek chip designer remains optimistic inf the face of concerns over possible US tariffs / full item
- India: Suchi Semicon firm is to establish an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly & Test – OSAT – facility in Surat, locating near to Micron, Tata Electronics, and Kaynes Semicon facilities / full item
- Since early 2024, reports have emerged of idle computing centers in China. And in September, renting NVIDIA AI chips in the cloud was cheaper in China than in the US. / full item
- Taiwan’s TSMC is rumored to be building ‘Fab 25’, a large-scale 1 nanometer-focused fabrication facility in Shalun, with three plants set for 1.4nm processes / full item
- China: Beijing tech park established 8 new space-focused ‘laboratories’ in the city, alongside a new satellite internet industrial park, targeting a regular schedule of 100 launches / full item
Old age poverty and active ageing in ASEAN: Trends
- India: Nibe Ltd space firm gains BlackSky partnership for satellite imagery, analytics, and hi-res optical sat in move toward a sovereign, remote-sensing constellation / full item
- China’s national space endeavors have frequently grabbed headlines, but a transformation at the local level is playing another role in China’s broader space strategy. / full item
- Australia: Fleet Space and Koloma natural hydrogen company partner to identify hydrogen-forming geological formations using real-time 3D subsurface imaging from space / full item
- Australia: Gilmour Space targets mid-March for maiden flight of Eris rocket, potentially to be the first Australia-built rocket to reach orbit, and the first orbital launch from Australia since 1971 / full item
- China Aerospace Science & Tech Corp’n, CASC confirmed launch and orbit entry of ChinaSat-10R – Zhongxing-10R – communications satellite / full item
- Indian Nat’l Space Promotion & Authorisation Centre, IN-SPACe, has launched a $57.58M fund to help early-stage space technologies commercialize and reduce reliance on imports / full item
- 2025 India Space Congress is set for June, running with the theme of ‘Pioneering Innovations in Space Technology – India’s Journey towards Global Partnerships’ / full item
- Australia: Extraterrestrial Power unveils mass-manufacturable solar cell it estimates to be ten times more affordable than current space-application solar cells / full item
- Japan: Tenchijin unveils ‘Thermo Earth of Love Project’, a proprietary satellite program to boost surface temperature monitoring capabilities, featuring development of its own satellite / full item
- Australia: Gilmour Space Technologies preps for first orbital launch with final approvals received for its maiden test flight of a 3-stage rocket / full item
- Japan’s SKY Perfect JSAT Asia-wide satellite TV major and US firm, Planet Labs, partner for Earth observation satellite constellation / full item
Google Cloud Security: Threat Horizons H1 2025 Report
- The Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2025 is set for 27 & 28 May in Sydney, with nominations now open for the Australian Space Awards / full item
- 5 Australian startups secured $3.6M collectively from NASA’s ‘Moon to Mars’ supply chain capability grants program / full item
- Japan: SKY Perfect JSAT to launch low Earth orbit imagery constellation, committing $230M to growing beyond geostationary business / full item
- China: Preparations are underway to launch 2 space station resupply cargo craft in Q3 2025, via the runway-capable, reusable, methane-liquid oxygen Zhuque-3 rocket / full item
- India: Satellite successfully launches and enters orbit, forming part of the Navigation with Indian Constellation – NavIC – positioning system, a domestic alternative to GPS et al / full item
- Singapore: Global Space Technology Convention & Exhibition 2025 is set for February 26 -27 / full item
- China: First launch of the new Long March 8A rocket delivered satellite internet payloads for the Guowang – aka SatNet – 23,000-sat mega-constellation / full item
- India: Recently-launched NVS-02 navigation satellite is stranded in a transfer orbit following failure of onboard propulsion, possibly to result in an unplanned re-entry to atmosphere / full item
- Vietnam plans regulations allowing Starlink to provide satellite internet services in the country while maintaining full ownership of any local subsidiary / full item
China: “Spacesail will provide satellite communications and broadband Internet services to these countries. This partnership is poised to create challenges for Elon Musk-owned Starlink…” / full item
- Shares in direct-to-mobile satellite firms drop after Apple enables iPhones with a T-Mobile cellular plan to join beta tests for SpaceX Starlink service in the US / full item
- Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company are reportedly separately exploring deals to take over parts of Intel / full item
- China: Discovery of copper reserves of over 20M tons in Tibet is set to significantly boost China’s mineral industry with implications for global markets, technology, and geopolitics / full item
- Vietnam: Japan’s Kyushu semiconductor industry bodies explored Japan-Vietnam partnership opportunities in recent meetings / full item
- Malaysia: Taiwan’s ASE launches new $300M facility in Penang, its 5th in Malaysia, and more than tripling its floorspace in the country / full item
Taiwan: “We expect that this year… a much larger number of our large server companies, especially for AI servers, announcing that they’re going to be expanding their investments in Texas…” / full item
- South Korea’s FuriosaAI chips firm is reportedly in talks with Meta as the social media giant looks to develop AI infrastructure / full item
- ‘Megatrending 2025’ from The Pictet Group, an examination of the component parts of 7 key large trends / full item
- China Nat’l Space Administration and Pakistan’s Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission ink MoU for Pakistan’s first moon rover to fly on China’s Chang’e-8 mission in 2028 / full item
- India-Australia Space collaboration is set to grow with the PRISM 2 initiative, building on a range of similar space-focused partnerships / full item
- China’s Spacesail ‘megaconstellation’ operator inks MoU with Malaysia’s Measat to expand its presence in wider SE Asia with satellite broadband, direct-to-device comms, and IoT solutions / full item
- Japan: ArkEdge Space observation satellite produced for Taiwan’s space agency has captured high-quality Earth imagery from a spacecraft smaller than a suitcase / full item
- Philippines: World Mobile blockchain-backed mobile network partners DITO CME, parent of Dito Telecom / full item
Asia tech newsletters:
Weekly in February 2025
- To February 22nd on LinkedIn and via Substack
- To February 15th on LinkedIn and via Substack
- To February 8th on LinkedIn and via Substack
- To February 1st on LinkedIn and via Substack
