China, Elon Musk and the Space Race to Launch Thousands of Satellites | WSJ U.S. vs. China

To keep up with Elon Musk’s Starlink and the U.S., China plans to launch thousands of broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. Of the roughly 8,000 functioning satellites in orbit, about 55% belong to SpaceX’s Starlink. China is making strides as more satellite companies like SatNet are getting more funding and making advancements.

WSJ explores how broadband satellites work and whether China can secure its spot in a crowded stretch of space.

0:00 China building its capabilities
1:03 How broadband satellites work
2:46 China’s space sector
4:55 Global expansion of satellite broadband
6:32 Overcrowding in low-Earth orbit

U.S. vs. China
This original video series explores the rivalry between the two superpowers’ competing efforts to develop the technologies that are reshaping our world.

#SpaceX #China #WSJ

[iemer]

every village in China has access to either 4G or 5G or both, so 342M people without internet is probably from data 20 years ago.

[infoworld]

362m Chinese don't hv internet, that is a straight lie.

[hansonsun]

342M Chinese live in non-internet coverage area? Do you really mean it?

[Flanker-L]

362 million people no internet in your dream

[神秘红光天彗龙]

At the beginning of the video, the data made me laugh out loud. You only said that 362 million Chinese people did not have access to the internet, but did not say that the total population of children under 10 years old and elderly people over 70 years old in China exceeded 340 million, which indirectly mocked how weak China is, right?

[cicy]

362 million people don't have internet access in China. I think you referring to the babies and under ages and over aged people

[ruiqianren]

Never seen one Chinese without internet. Where did you find 362M?

[SunniePrito]

This is not about who can reach there first but who can sustain it, "Sustainability"

[henry-pjzo]

this news is completely wrong. In China, the internet access coverage is nearly 100%, even 5g coverage is more than 4g in the US. the space internet is not for commercial use, it's too expensive and completely not necessary. it will be only military use.

[arealperson]

I don't trust that 362 million number in the beginning. I believe there may be that many people who don't frequently use the internet (could be they are too young or too old), but that's not the same as "not having access".

[yuchenhuang]

where is the data "362 million" in the beginning of this video come from? 🤔

[juliochiriramirez]

The real question is here: Why are so many pieces of debris wandering in low-earth orbit? According to many space and satellite experts, the USA holds more than 50% of the total satellites in orbit. So did NASA not have precise and efficient protocols to maintain/dispose of their old/broken equipment? Shouldn't NASA be accountable for its poor satellite management and operation? I guess America is going to blame the Chinese or Russians when the satellite overcrowding happens in a few years.

[PatrickFan]

Here in China: if you spend 4 USD a month like I do, you can get 150G data traffic (5G/4G...), and 100 minutes of free phone call. Answering a phone call is free of charge.

I don't know the cost in the US.

[calvinblue]

Did they mean the old generation that didn't want to use internet in China?

[血珊瑚]

I'm traveling to the US in 2019. I'm going from Los Angeles to San Francisco ending up in Salt Lake City and then to Yellowstone National Park. The internet quality was good while in Los Angeles and San Francisco. But on the highway to Salt Lake City and many places in Yellowstone National Park there is no 3G 4G signal. I am from Guizhou, China, one of the poorest provinces in China. But all of our counties here have highways and 4G signal all the way. All the popular places in our province have 5G signal. So I can't understand why an attraction like Yellowstone National Park would still have no 5G signal.

[win-yrwp]

Lol, almost everyone has internet in China !!

[wwxyz]

It’s not about money or profit. It’s about military and LEO orbits.

[wenling]

it's nothing to do with how many people not online, it's about strategic and military potential.
every body knows what happen in Ukraine

[classicrock]

Sending more and more satellites without cleaning and clearing the past space debris making the biggest trap which may hamper the future space exploration

[danielderose]

With s big statement in the beginning, it should be easy for China to de-Internet from almost 100% of 4g/5g coverage to 75% by simply cutting off the power.