Satellite competition in LatAm to fly high with Chinese players

Competition in the low-orbit satellite connectivity segment, which provides lower latencies and shorter response times, is expected to skyrocket in Latin America with the entry of Chinese players.

One of these is SpaceSail, which plans to launch its internet service via a constellation of LEO satellites in Brazil in the next two years.

This week, Brazil’s communications minister Juscelino Filho visited the company's plant in Shanghai to discuss partnerships and investments.

The visit is part of a series of meetings that the ministerial delegation has been having since last week, looking to open up "commercial and technological opportunities and seek investment from Chinese companies in Brazil," according to a ministry statement.

"They have production capacity of one satellite per day and a launch speed that will soon be serving Brazil. So, we left here impressed with what we saw, not only with the satellite production capacity, but with the plan they have for expansion and growth in space to serve several countries, including our country," Filho said in the release.

Satellites are a major focus of the minister's visit, which included the president of state telecoms company Telebras, Frederico de Siqueira Filho. Telebras operates its own strategic communications and defense satellite, the geostationary orbit satellite SGDC, and has a partnership with US company Viasat.

During the trip to China, the minister also visited the headquarters of Huawei, as well as of HiteVision, BYD, ZTE and Oppo.

Aiming at Starlink and others, SpaceSail launched the second batch of its first generation constellation on October 16, comprising 18 satellites. The first batch was sent into space on August 6.

Other Chinese companies that could potentially operate in Latin America are Geespace and Hongqing.

Geespace is backed by Chinese automaker Geely and in August launched a third batch of LEO satellites as part of its plan to form a megaconstellation, while privately backed firm Hongqing Technology applied in April to the ITU for positions for 10,000 LEO satellites.

Previously, it was also reported that state-owned China Satellite Network intends to launch up to 26,000 LEO satellites for internet connectivity in the coming years.

US-CHINA RIVALRY

Emerging regions with vast swathes of remote areas demanding connectivity via satellite, such as Latin America, could soon become a new battlefield for US-China rivalry.

In addition to Starlink, which leads satellite accesses in Brazil and Chile and is growing fast in other countries, Amazon’s Kuiper is charging up its engines.

The company is speeding up preparations to obtain licenses and permits to start LEO operations next year in seven Latin American markets, in partnership with Vrio, as it readies the launch of its low-orbit satellite fleet.

The fleet is expected to be launched by the end of this year, with the schedule brought forward from 2025 originally.

“We’ve also made several advances to deploy the gateways [ground stations]. We need to install dozens of gateways in Latin American countries.

We already have them installed in some and in others we’ve reserved sites. We can't talk about the numbers – how many sites, how many gateways, in which countries – but I can say that we've made a lot of progress in this regard,” Bruno Henriques, Kuiper's business development head for Latin America, told BNamericas in July.

Also on the low-orbit front, Eutelsat OneWeb went operational in Latin America this year, unlike Starlink focusing on services for B2B customers. France’s Eutelsat acquired the UK's LEO firm OneWeb in 2023.

OneWeb has already obtained most of the licenses to operate in Latin American markets and has partnerships with Hughes and Orbith, among others.

Another potential contender is French company E-Space.

E-Space operates LEO satellites with lower transmission capacity and was awarded a permit last month by Brazilian regulator Anatel, allowing it to operate locally. 

The license is valid for five years and allows for the use of up to 8,640 low-orbit satellites. There is no record, however, of the company having launched more than a handful into orbit so far.

The service will be marketed locally by E-Space Brazil Holdings.