What The Hell America!

China’s satellite internet upstart seems to be taking aim at Starlink.

SpaceSail, a Chinese space company backed by the Shanghai municipal government, has been entering markets where Elon Musk has faced friction.

SpaceSail has launched around 90 satellites since last year. It is in talks with over 30 countries, with plans to have 648 satellites launched by the end of 2025, and 15,000 by 2030.

Currently, Musk’s Starlink has more than 7,000 satellites in orbit.

In 2024, Starlink controlled nearly two-thirds of active satellites, far ahead of rivals like the U.K.’s OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which has only launched two prototype satellites.

While Musk’s close relationship with the Donald Trump administration appears to have paved the way for Starlink to enter India and Vietnam, it has complicated matters in Ukraine, where the U.S. threatened to turn off Starlink over a minerals deal. In South Africa, Musk has refused to comply with local ownership requirements, calling it “racist.”

90 The number of satellites that SpaceSail launched in its first 7 months.

Here is a brief breakdown of where SpaceSail has made gains among members or partner states of BRICS, a coalition of major non-Western economies that includes China, Russia, and India.

Brazil

SpaceSail signed a deal to enter Brazil last November during President Xi Jinping’s state visit. It will go online in 2026 via a partnership with Telebras, a Brazilian telecommunications company.

Meanwhile, Starlink has been under fire in the country. 

Brazil’s Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, froze Starlink’s bank accounts last August after Musk failed to pay court-imposed fines. Moraes had ordered X to block accounts that allegedly spread misinformation, but the social media platform defied the ruling. Musk was forced to settle the $5 million fine before Moraes lifted the freezes. 

Kazakhstan

Regulations in the country restrict entry of foreign communication networks whose control centers are based overseas. In 2024, SpaceX refused to comply with the requirement despite the government offering sites in Kokterek and Akkol with existing infrastructure and power supply. 

648 Number of satellites that SpaceSail is projected to launch by the end of 2025

In January, SpaceSail established a subsidiary in Kazakhstan and agreed to meet government requirements, according to Central Asian business publication Kursiv Media. The Chinese company also plans to build a facility to integrate its satellite network with Kazakhstan’s local communication networks, as per media reports.

Meanwhile, things have only become harder for Starlink. 

Late last year, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development proposed additional regulations explicitly banning Starlink over national security concerns. The ministry also named OneWeb, Amazon Kuiper, and SpaceSail as viable alternatives.

The proposal was later withdrawn following public backlash. The ministry said it would revise the draft. Musk, meanwhile, has reportedly reached out to Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister, Serik Zhumangarin, offering to help with state budget cuts.

Malaysia

In February, SpaceSail signed an agreement with Measat, a local satellite communications company, to advance satellite broadband services in Malaysia, and Asia more broadly.

SpaceSail entered the country around the same time that Malaysians called for a ban on Tesla and criticized Musk for supporting Trump’s Gaza plan — a proposal involving the forced relocation of 2 million Palestinians to neighboring countries.

Starlink has been available in Malaysia since 2023.