Starlink was sold to investors as being politically neutral and almost immediately became a US military asset. It was just a matter of time before China wanted their own version. No doubt some other countries will want their own systems free of American or Chinese control, though obviously it's going to be more difficult for them to do something as complete. It's going to be an interesting choice for ESA/the EU to decide if they want their own thing too instead of relying on the US to be a fair broker of access.

And of those countries who would like to have a system free of influence from other countries, well, if they can't afford to build one out, they might be able to orbit a bunch of chaff to even the playing field again.

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torlok 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Eutelsat OneWeb it's mostly owned by Eutelsat and the UK government.

	▲	manquer 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Eutelsat Oneweb is a subsidiary of Eutelsat group which after the bankruptcy, merger and capital raises currently composed of - French state(29%), - Bharti Airtel -Indian telecom group (17%), - UK government (10%), - SoftBank (10%) -Japanese bank - CMA CGM(7.5%) french shipping company - a consortium of French insurance companies with 5% . Till recently a South Korean conglomerate Hanwha also had 5% stake . there is a significant concentration of holding by national governments, UK do have a golden share protecting their strategic needs , but their investment is now a small minority. it is mostly French company today with diversified direct interests from 4-5 major countries.