- [Narrator] 362 million people

don't have internet access in China.

That's roughly 30 million more people

than the entire US population.

But this rocket holds a possible solution

to help China close the gap.

Inside it are low-Earth orbit satellites

capable of providing high-speed internet access

even in remote areas.

In China, this technology is still experimental

- [Controller] Ignition.

- [Narrator] But Starlink,

a subdivision of the American company SpaceX,

has already launched 4,768 of them,

making it the leader across the globe.

Although space is vast, these satellites operate

in a specific area that's quickly getting more crowded.

To ensure its place, China is building up its capabilities.

Just two decades ago,

59.1 million people in China were online,

just 4.6% of its population then.

Now, it's over 1 billion people, 74% of the population.

So is the country known for its rapid development,

capable of rivaling Starlink?

Of the roughly 8,000 functioning satellites

currently in orbit, about 55% belong to Starlink

and the position of its satellites is key.

For decades, satellite internet providers

relied on geostationary satellites.

These satellites are far away,

about 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface.

That distance lets them cover a large area

and reach remote parts of the globe,

but it takes longer for data to travel

between the satellite and the user.

This means the broadband has high latency and slower speeds.

Often, geostationary satellites offer speeds

at least 25 megabits per second,

which is enough to stream in HD

and can support about one to three devices.

But satellites in low-Earth orbit or LEO, are much closer,

no more than 1,200 miles from Earth's surface.

This means that while a LEO satellite

can't cover as much area as a geostationary satellite,

it can provide more stable and faster internet speeds.

Though SpaceX got its start launching rockets,

it has built up a big business selling broadband

powered by LEO satellites.

And a key to its success?

It owns every step of the process.

SpaceX manufactures the satellites

and launches them with its own Falcon 9 is rockets

and Falcon 9 boosters,

the part that blasts the rocket off the ground, are reusable

saving SpaceX money on launch costs.

- They have a very capable launch division

that is regularly blasting satellites off for customers,

for governments, and for itself.

- [Narrator] And it can launch dozens of satellites

into low-Earth orbit per trip.

In 2014, China opened its space sector

up to private investment.

Five years later, startups in China

received over $314 million in funding.

The only country that attracted more startup funding

was the US. - Ignition.

- [Narrator] In the same year,

SpaceX alone received $962 million.

To be more self-sufficient,

China has been investing in key tech like LEO satellites.

In 2021, it established SatNet, a state-owned company

it hopes will streamline the process to launch satellites

and form a broadband network.

So far, China says it will build at least 7,800 satellites.

Plus, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation

have each launched experimental satellites

into low-Earth orbit.

And startup GalaxySpace

launched several operational satellites last year

to begin its 1,000-satellite constellation,

but so far, no enterprise in China has created a rocket

to launch these satellites

that's as advanced as the Falcon 9.

However, Beijing Tianbing Technology

appears to be getting closer.

While the company doesn't have a reusable rocket yet,

it sent a liquid fuel rocket into orbit

for the first time earlier this year.

Experts say this is a crucial step

to creating a reusable rocket.

Ultimately, the company wants to develop rockets

that can deploy up to 60 satellites in a single launch,

similar to Falcon 9's capabilities.

- It's not easy to like get off of Earth and like deploy,

you know, hundreds or thousands

or tens of thousands of satellites into that part of space.

You need a rocket that can,

you know, make those trips over and over and over again.

Satellites in low-Earth orbit have a shelf life,

they have to be replaced, so you need to have a capability

to kind of continually launch satellites

- [Narrator] Altogether, this makes

the barrier to entry quite high.

McKinsey estimates the cost to launch

an operable constellation is between $5 to $10 billion

with yearly operating costs

running another $1 to $2 billion.

So what's the benefit?

- The marketplace that SpaceX

has always been after is global.

- [Narrator] SpaceX said in April

that Starlink was available in more than 50 countries,

and within the next few years, it expects to operate

in many more countries across Africa and Asia.

- SpaceX has been going around the world

to get permission from national regulators

to sell Starlink connections.

- [Narrator] But it's not alone.

Cooperation in space is a key part

of China's Belt and Road Initiative,

a global infrastructure project.

Last year, China said it had formed

149 space cooperation agreements

with 46 national space agencies

and already it's provided countries across Africa,

Europe, and Asia with Beidou,

a global navigation satellite system

that rivals US-owned GPS.

Major Chinese companies

built infrastructure across the world too.

Up to 70% of 4G network infrastructure across Africa

was built by Huawei.

- There are, you know, billions of people around the world

that don't have have any internet at all.

Beyond that, there's like huge demand just generally

for high-speed internet.

- [Narrator] And that demand

is part of what's driving Starlink, China

and companies everywhere

to build these LEO constellations, but-

- Satellite internet, at least right now,

faces like real cost challenges relative

to traditional on the ground terrestrial infrastructure

for internet connections.

I don't think that like low-Earth orbit satellites

will take over and provide

like global high-speed internet capacity.

- [Narrator] One of the biggest concerns

facing the sector's expansion

is overcrowding in low-Earth orbit.

By 2030, US officials estimate

there will be 58,000 satellites,

about a 725% increase from the number in the sky right now.

In just the past two years, the FCC received applications

for more than 64,000 satellites,

and experts at NASA and the FCC

fear that more satellites could mean more issues.

Already there are over 26,000 pieces of debris,

at least the size of a softball in low-Earth orbit

that could destroy a satellite on impact.

- If you assume that like tens of thousands

of additional satellites are launched and deployed

to low-Earth orbit in the coming years,

there's gonna be a real need for coordination communication,

finding ways for all these operators

to sort of know where their devices are located,

how they're moving and what

like the potential threat is for a collision.

Low-Earth orbit, it's sort of like a commons right now.

There's some treaties that govern space and there are also

what experts and government officials call norms

around good space behavior.

It's a little more open-ended and dependent

on actors there to sort of work together and communicate.

(intriguing music)