SpaceX’s move to relocate its PCB production line from Los Angeles to Texas had raised concerns that orders for Taiwanese satellite board makers could be at risk. A DIGITIMES report said those worries have not materialized, noting that the Texas plant’s PCB yields remain well below those of Taiwanese manufacturers and that the facility is mainly serving low-volume, highly confidential orders for the U.S. defense and military industrial system. On that basis, the report said the new operation is unlikely to shake the position of Taiwanese suppliers over the next three years.
Texas line not aimed at commercial-scale satellite orders
People familiar with the satellite industry said SpaceX still depends to a significant extent on non-China production capacity in Southeast Asia, including facilities in Thailand and Vietnam run by Taiwanese and Japanese PCB makers, for upstream satellite PCB procurement. As part of Elon Musk’s push to expand semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., SpaceX not only built wafer fabrication and packaging facilities in Texas but also shifted its PCB line there from Los Angeles.
According to the report, the Texas plant is not set up for broad commercial mass production. Instead, it is handling small-volume, highly sensitive PCB orders tied to the U.S. defense and military system, while also supporting early-stage product development to reduce the risk of supply disruptions in critical components. Taiwanese industry sources said the allocation of SpaceX satellite orders has not changed so far, and they do not view the Texas capacity as a threat within the next three years.
Taiwanese PCB makers declined proposal to build in the U.S.
Supply-chain sources said Musk had previously invited Taiwanese PCB companies to set up manufacturing in the United States. After evaluating the proposal, the companies turned it down. The main reasons given were the large gap between local manufacturing costs and the cost structures Taiwanese producers currently operate with, along with an incomplete domestic U.S. supply chain that would make it difficult to support the upstream and downstream processes required for PCB production.
Compeq expects recovery as material shortages ease
Compeq Manufacturing said its satellite PCB shipments in the first quarter of 2026 came in below expectations because of tight supply of upstream copper clad laminate, or CCL, materials. By the second quarter, that supply bottleneck had started to ease, and customer pull-in demand was picking up. The company said its second hard-board plant in Thailand is scheduled to ramp gradually in the second half of 2026 to take on more satellite-related demand.
Compeq added that its largest customer already has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit. Beyond a higher launch count in 2026, that customer also has product upgrade plans for 2026 and 2027. Its second-largest customer has entered a more stable deployment phase, with launches projected to reach the thousand-unit level from 2026 to 2027, which the company described as a key shipment driver for the next two years.
Unitech targets higher satellite revenue share after Thai plant ramp
Unitech Printed Circuit Board said satellite applications accounted for about 20% of revenue in the first half of 2026, slightly below its earlier expectation. The company attributed that to delays in the mass-production schedule at its new Thailand plant and product adjustments by its second-largest customer, which pushed related orders back to the third quarter.
Unitech said the new Thailand plant entered trial production in the second quarter and is expected to begin mass production in the third quarter, initially focusing on boards for ground receiving equipment. The company also said it has entered the supply chain for its largest customer’s next-generation satellite boards, which could lift the satellite business contribution to more than 30% of revenue in 2026.
Competition for satellite board certifications is heating up
As the satellite industry moves from technical validation toward commercialization, competition for upstream PCB orders is intensifying. In addition to Compeq, Unitech and Japan’s Meiko Electronics, companies including Chin-Poon, Boardtek and Gold Circuit are actively seeking certification opportunities as they try to enter the market.