China tech firm gains altitude as Brazil embraces alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink
Deal between Shanghai-based SpaceSail and Brazil telecoms company follows country’s earlier dispute with Musk’s social media platform X
SpaceSail plans to bring satellite-based internet access to areas with limited connectivity by deploying its Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails”, constellation, a low-Earth orbit satellite network currently under construction that would support Brazil’s national digital inclusion policies, according to its official WeChat account.
The initiative is intended to provide broadband services to schools, hospitals and rural communities, streamlining the delivery of essential public services in previously underserved regions while driving the country’s digital economic transformation.
Brazil wants to reduce reliance on Starlink, which dominates 46 per cent of the country’s satellite internet market, by seeking to diversify its satellite internet providers.
Musk was locked in a months-long dispute with Brazil this year after the country’s Supreme Court suspended his social media platform X for refusing to block accounts spreading misinformation.
