WIDE OPEN FRONTIERS: CyberSpace Connectivity Challenge Circling The Planet > Satellite Networks

From Axios 2 hours ago > The big picture: Faster and cheaper technology has made satellite networks a more viable option for transmitting broadband.

(Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios)

THE AMERICAN FEAR CAVEAT: Our thought bubble: Axios China expert Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian notes that China could potentially use such a satellite network for mass data collection and surveillance of internet traffic.

BRAVE NEW WORLD FOR CONSTELLATION CONSTELLATIONS OF CONFLICT

What's happening:

 China is attempting to launch its own network to rival global competitors.

China's on a mission to dominate space internet

Margaret Harding McGill 

More What they're saying: "All these countries are doing this because it’s like the wide open frontiers of the 1800s, and the ideas of how best to exploit it are virtually unlimited at this point," said former FCC Commissioner Rob McDowell, who now represents clients in the industry.

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CHANGING THE GEO-POLITICAL LANDSCAPE  

Russia, the U.S.' long-standing partner in space, is turning to China for its lunar ambitions.

Why it matters: The U.S. and Russia have been uneasy partners in orbit for decades, but as the two grow farther apart in space, their rift could reshape the geopolitical landscape above Earth — and on it — for years to come.

Driving the news: Last week, China and Russia signed an agreement to work together to develop a lunar research station on or orbiting the Moon, allying Russia with a nation many see as in opposition to U.S. interests in space.

• The memorandum of understanding comes after Russia declined to sign NASA's Artemis Accords governing international cooperation and uses of the Moon, and after a Russian official criticized NASA's plans to build a small space station in lunar orbit.
• Russia was initially expected to provide an airlock for the small lunar space station, which is part of NASA's plans to land people on the Moon, but now "NASA will be pursuing other options for the provider of the airlock," NASA said in a statement.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The U.S.-Russia collaboration in space is fraying

Miriam Kramer

Axios | 2021-03-16