China’s biggest networks have deployed less than 1 percent of their planned satellites, falling far behind SpaceX for dominance in space communications.
It’s looking unlikely. Here’s why.
By Selam Gebrekidan Graphics by Malika Khurana
There are over 11,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, providing internet, surveillance and navigation services.
SpaceX is the dominant player, with about 8,000 Starlink satellites. This year, China had planned to start catching up.
It is not going well. China’s Starlink competitors have only about 120 satellites in low Earth orbit.
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