Elon Musk’s Starlink races with Chinese rivals to dominate satellite internet

BENGALURU/BEIJING - Space is about to get more crowded for Elon Musk.

The billionaire’s Starlink communications network is facing increasingly stiff challenges to its dominance of high-speed satellite internet, including from a Chinese state-backed rival and another service financed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Shanghai-based SpaceSail last November signed an agreement to enter Brazil and announced it was in talks with over 30 countries. Two months later, it began work in Kazakhstan, according to the Kazakh embassy in Beijing.

Separately, Brasilia is in talks with Mr Bezos’ Project Kuiper internet service and Canada’s Telesat, according to a Brazilian official involved in the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss ongoing talks.

Starlink has since 2020 launched more satellites into low-earth orbit (LEO) – an altitude of less than 2,000km – than all its competitors combined. Satellites operating at such low altitudes transmit data extremely efficiently, providing high-speed internet for remote communities, seafaring vessels and militaries at war.

Mr Musk’s primacy in space is seen as a threat by Beijing, which is both investing heavily in rivals and funding military research into tools that track satellite constellations, according to Chinese corporate filings and academic papers whose details have not been previously reported.

China launched a record 263 LEO satellites in 2024, according to data from astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell analysed by tech consultancy Analysys Mason. The emergence of competition to Starlink has been welcomed by Brazil’s government, which wants high-speed internet for communities in far-flung areas but has previously faced off with Mr Musk over commerce and politics.

Few of Mr Musk’s international rivals have the same ambition as SpaceSail, which is controlled by the Shanghai municipal government. It has announced plans to deploy 648 LEO satellites in 2025 and as many as 15,000 by 2030.

Starlink currently has about 7,000 satellites, according to Dr McDowell, and has set itself a target of operating 42,000 by the end of the decade.

SpaceSail’s launches will eventually comprise the Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails”, constellation that marks China’s first international push into satellite broadband. Three other Chinese constellations are also in development, with Beijing planning to launch 43,000 LEO satellites in the coming decades and investing in rockets that can carry multiple satellites.

“The endgame is to occupy as many orbital slots as possible,” said space technology expert Chaitanya Giri from India’s Observer Research Foundation.

China’s rush to occupy more of lower-earth orbit has raised concerns among Western policymakers, who worry that it could extend the reach of Beijing’s internet censorship regime. Researchers at the American Foreign Policy Council think-tank said in a February paper that Washington should increase cooperation with Global South nations if it wanted to “seriously contest China’s growing foray into digital dominance”.

The researchers also described Qianfan as a crucial part of the space component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The US$1 trillion (S$1.33 trillion) global infrastructure development plan is a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but it has been accused by critics of being primarily a tool to expand Beijing’s geopolitical influence.

China’s foreign ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that while it was not aware of the specifics surrounding SpaceSail and Chinese LEO satellites expanding overseas, Beijing pursues space cooperation with other countries for the benefit of their peoples. SpaceSail has said it aims to supply reliable internet to more users, particularly those in remote areas and during recovery from emergencies and natural disasters.REUTERS