AIT: The United States and Taiwan are negotiating to build a spaceport in Pingtung's Jiupeng, with suborbital flights to Houston taking only 2.5 hours.

The United States and Taiwan are negotiating cooperation on a suborbital spaceport, hoping to reduce the flight time from Taipei to Houston to 2.5 hours and upgrade to a qualified international spaceport in the future. (Background: Taiwan's housing market is experiencing "sky-high prices and flat transactions" with discounts starting from 15%, will it drop again next year?) (Supplementary background: Binance CEO Richard Teng spoke in Taiwan: After 2024, cryptocurrencies will become mainstream! Taiwan needs to leverage its talent advantage.) Today (21), the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) made a shocking announcement for Taiwan's humid afternoon: the U.S. and Taiwan are evaluating cooperation in the suborbital flight sector, and if all goes well, the 13-hour flight time between Taipei and Houston will be shortened to 2.5 hours. The initial plan focuses on uncrewed cargo missions, with hopes to develop crewed flights later. The 2.5-hour "parabolic" journey across the Pacific ignites imagination; Taiwan has long held global semiconductor discourse power and is expected to expand from wafers to suborbital vehicles. According to reports from the Taipei Times, Houston First Corp, operated by the city of Houston, has discussed the development possibilities of suborbital commercial vehicles with the Taiwanese government. AIT stated that the plan will utilize a launch site in Jiupeng, Pingtung County, which may develop into a spaceport in the future. The core of the discussions is the "suborbital spaceport." Suborbital flights do not enter a complete Earth orbit but quickly glide back into the atmosphere after tracing a parabolic path at high altitudes, reaching speeds several times that of sound, dramatically increasing transcontinental travel speed. Future point-to-point transportation hubs The spaceport serves as the "airport" for space vehicles. It includes launch pads, fuel systems, assembly plants, and command centers, while integrating safety, logistics, and airspace coordination. The modern version has evolved further; for example, SpaceX recovers rocket boosters via offshore drones, saving money and time. A technical document indicates that the spaceport can initially be used for research and unmanned cargo transport, collecting weather data, or testing materials' heat resistance. The long-term goal is to focus on crewed transport and global point-to-point transportation, making the vision of humans being "two hours away from any corner of the Earth" no longer just a meme. Space economy Taiwan's aerospace technology values industrial upgrades and national security, and the lack of its own launch site has pushed local aerospace startups to test overseas. TiSPACE's launch of VP01 in Hokkaido, Japan, is a typical case. If Jiupeng in Pingtung becomes a launch site, related businesses can verify technology at their doorstep, boosting the entire supply chain of materials, manufacturing, and precision machinery. According to statistics from the Global Spaceport Alliance, the scale of the space economy has already reached hundreds of billions of dollars, with significant growth potential in the next decade. For the United States, Houston's Ellington Field already holds a legal spaceport license, and cooperation with Taiwan pushes the Asia-Pacific tech allies further ahead. Houston's global standing in aerospace technology, energy, and healthcare, combined with Taiwan's information and chip advantages, indeed creates a technological corridor formed by suborbital high-speed transport that can attract more investors and diversify Taiwan's industry. On the other hand, the United States connecting more tech industries in Taiwan and the advantages of suborbital transport can facilitate rapid military deployment and potentially reduce tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Related reports Trump signed the GENIUS stablecoin law; Tether: striving for USDT compliance, will issue U.S.-exclusive stablecoins, how will Circle respond? Perena collaborates with Brale to launch "U.S. regulated stablecoin USD,'" now live on Solana. The implementation of the U.S. GENIUS stablecoin law does not equate to freedom; the regulatory iron net has just begun. <AIT: The U.S. and Taiwan are negotiating to build a spaceport in Jiupeng, Pingtung, with suborbital flights to Houston taking only 2.5 hours> was first published in BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.