Last Saturday, according to Bloomberg, the next SpaceX space mission launched the first two Foxconn satellites into low Earth orbit, which the company is developing for both its own needs and third-party customers, including government agencies. Satellite manufacturing will be one way to diversify Foxconn’s business.

After assuming the chairmanship of Foxconn’s board of directors in 2019, Young Liu (Young Liu) outlined four ways to diversify the activities of the Taiwanese giant: electric cars, medical equipment, robotics, as well as artificial intelligence technologies, semiconductors and communications satellites. Foxconn’s new president was faced with the task of finding the types of businesses that would grow over the next ten or fifteen years.

Foxconn’s sales will fall 6% this year, according to preliminary estimates from Bloomberg, as the company, the world’s third-largest private employer, relies heavily on the collapsing smartphone market. Foxconn produces almost two-thirds of Apple’s smartphones sold globally. According to third-party experts, satellite production for Foxconn will become a rather unpredictable business, as it will have to interact with various customers and constantly look for new ones. In this sense, the state order in this area gives some hope for stability. Taiwan needs a reliable communications infrastructure, and an array of low-orbit satellites represents a smart alternative to undersea cables that are easier to damage.

The satellites, created by Foxconn with the help of Taiwanese scientists, are the size of an ordinary backpack, weigh about 9 kg and contain cameras, communication devices and other equipment. They are designed to operate at an altitude of 520 km and are capable of circling the Earth in 96 minutes.

In the context of the development of the electric car business, a satellite constellation of Foxconn may be needed, because modern vehicles have a great need for high-speed and reliable communication. The company has extensive experience in the production of electronics, and in this respect its communication satellites are not much different from the same smartphones or game consoles.