“The request, which sought approval for nearly 13,000 satellites on behalf of a Chinese company listed as “GW,” revealed the Chinese space industry’s global vision for a broadband satellite internet network that could stretch worldwide.”
China has roughly two dozen satellite constellation startups and a $1.5 billion unicorn in GalaxySpace. None of them will run the network. Guo Wang belongs to the state, and the startups are “at best hoping to act as a supplier.” In a country where only state-backed telecoms sell internet access, a 13,000-satellite network exports that model to everyone under its footprint.