Rocket Lab is taking a major step toward competing more directly with SpaceX, announcing an agreement to acquire satellite communications provider Iridium Communications in an approximately US$8 billion cash-and-stock transaction. The deal transforms Rocket Lab from a launch and spacecraft manufacturer into a fully vertically integrated space company with its own global satellite communications network, a strategy widely viewed by the market as mirroring SpaceX's integrated business model.
Taiwan-based Tongtai Machine & Tool is accelerating its transformation toward high-value manufacturing, leveraging growing opportunities in AI servers, semiconductors and aerospace. At its annual general meeting on June 17, shareholders approved all proposals and elected a new board that includes several aerospace industry veterans, underscoring the company's commitment to expanding into advanced manufacturing sectors despite a challenging operating environment.
As artificial intelligence drives an insatiable demand for computing power, China is beginning to look beyond terrestrial data centers and edge computing toward a new frontier: space.
At DIGITIMES' Tech Forum 2026 this week, analysts said satellite-based internet services are rapidly emerging as one of the most fiercely contested frontiers in the global connectivity market, with SpaceX's Starlink at the center of the battle.
