Catch up with SpaceX: Europe, Canada, and Japan are all making efforts, and even India is getting involved

A global competition surrounding low Earth orbit satellite internet is accelerating. From Europe to the Asia-Pacific, governments and commercial space companies are attempting to break SpaceX's dominance in the satellite communication field and promote the construction of domestic satellite constellations, which concerns not only commercial interests but also national security and strategic autonomy.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved SpaceX's deployment of an additional 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites last Friday, bringing the total number of second-generation satellites approved for operation in orbit to 15,000. The company currently operates about 9,400 satellites and is set to complete 154 launches by 2025, accounting for over 80% of the total launches in the U.S.

In the face of SpaceX's overwhelming advantage, countries and regions such as Europe, Canada, Japan, and India are accelerating their commercial space layouts.

The European Space Agency approved a record €22 billion in three-year funding in November, with approximately €900 million allocated to support five startups that have yet to achieve orbital launches. The Canadian government has committed nearly CAD 183 million over three years to improve its capacity for launching space missions from its territory. The Japanese government has earmarked ¥150 billion in its supplementary budget for fiscal year 2025 to support companies in creating a "Japanese version of Starlink."

United States: SpaceX Approved to Expand by 7,500 Satellites, Technology Upgrade Aiming for Gigabit Speeds

The total number of rocket launches in the U.S. has risen sharply from about 40 in 2020 to around 180 by 2025, with 80% of these launches coming from SpaceX.

The company currently operates about 9,400 satellites and is set to complete 154 launches by 2025, making it the absolute leader in U.S. rocket launches. SpaceX has now become the world's largest satellite operator, controlling nearly two-thirds of active satellites.

In this expansion, the FCC has set a strict deployment timeline for SpaceX: 50% of the authorized second-generation satellites must be launched and operational by December 2028, with the remaining satellites to be launched by December 2031. For the first-generation Starlink satellites, SpaceX must complete the deployment of 7,500 satellites by November 2027.

The FCC's approval not only involves an increase in the number of satellites but also includes key technology upgrades. SpaceX has been authorized to operate in five frequency bands and has been exempted from previous regulations limiting satellite signal coverage overlap, clearing regulatory obstacles to enhance network capacity.

The new satellites will provide satellite direct cellular network services to regions outside the U.S. and strengthen domestic network coverage capabilities. These technological upgrades are expected to achieve internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, supporting the next generation of mobile communication services.

Europe Races to Catch Up, Startups Supported by Government

After being left behind by SpaceX's low-cost reusable rockets for many years, the European space industry is showing new determination to catch up by 2026.

Of the record funding approved by the European Space Agency last November, approximately €900 million will be used for the "European Launcher Challenge" program, supporting five startups: Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg from Germany, PLD Space from Spain, MaiaSpace from France, and Orbex from the UK Isar Aerospace in Munich, Germany's "Space Valley" is one of Europe's most advanced challengers. Founded in 2018 by three students from the Technical University of Munich, the company has raised over 500 million euros and has more than 400 employees. The company is building a 40,000 square meter factory with an annual production capacity of over 30 rockets. Daniel Metzler, the 33-year-old CEO of Isar, stated, "Europe is indeed lagging behind, but the only way to close the gap is to build. The real risk is not failure, but inertia."

Europe's efforts to catch up are also driven by geopolitical factors. As the U.S. and Elon Musk become increasingly hostile towards the EU, and the Russia-Ukraine war highlights the battlefield value of networks like Starlink, European policymakers recognize the importance of nurturing a more resilient space sector. Germany plans to invest 35 billion euros to enhance its space defense capabilities by 2030, and the German military reportedly hopes to have its own satellite constellation.

However, Europe still faces significant challenges. In 2025, Europe completed only 7 orbital launches, while SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches on average every two days. The European Ariane 6 rocket aims to achieve 10 launches per year by 2027, about twice that of its predecessor, but it still has not adopted reusable technology.

Canada: Investing nearly 183 million CAD in three years

Canadian startup Kepler Communications launched 10 low Earth orbit satellites this month via SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, marking an important milestone in the company's construction of an optical relay network. According to Bloomberg, each of these satellites weighs about 300 kilograms and will be used for Earth observation, defense, and communication services.

Kepler has raised 200 million USD in its ten years of existence. CEO Mina Mitry stated in an interview that these satellites will operate as "orbital data centers," capable of storing several terabytes of information and running AI workloads in space. The satellites use lasers to transmit information, elevating space communication from the old "dial-up speed" to high-speed levels.

Kepler's development benefits from increased government spending on defense and intelligence. The Canadian government allocated 81.8 billion CAD in its latest budget to enhance defense capabilities over five years and committed to investing nearly 183 million CAD in three years to improve the ability to launch space missions from home. In December last year, the Canadian Space Agency signed a contract with Kepler for the conceptual study of the next-generation Earth observation satellite system. In October 2024, the European Space Agency selected the company to help develop its optical laser network.

Mitry stated that the company will seek new capital to continue expanding its business and plans to launch another 10 satellites in 2028.

Japan advances domestic Starlink plan, investing 150 billion JPY

According to Japan's Sankei Shimbun, the Japanese government is creating a "Japanese version of Starlink" system from a security perspective. The government has identified support measures to promote the use of low Earth orbit satellite constellations for domestically controlled communication services.

In the supplementary budget for the fiscal year 2025, the Japanese government listed 150 billion JPY (approximately 960 million USD) to provide subsidies to companies launching satellites and offering communication services. The public recruitment for subsidy applications is expected to start by the end of March this year This initiative stems from Japan's concerns about reliance on overseas satellite communications. After the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024, Japanese telecom operator KDDI provided Starlink receiving devices free of charge to evacuation sites, which raised public awareness of Starlink as a means of communication during disasters. However, relevant officials in the Japanese government hold a strong sense of crisis, believing that "if this continues, the market will be completely occupied by overseas companies."

Low Earth Orbit satellite constellations refer to communication networks operating at altitudes of 200 to 2,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface, consisting of dozens to thousands of small satellites working together, capable of supporting voice calls and data communications for devices such as mobile phones.

India Faces Setbacks, Main Rocket Continues to Fail

India's ambition to expand its share of the global commercial space market is facing severe technical challenges, with recent launch accidents raising concerns about the reliability of its rockets.

According to CCTV News, on January 12 local time, a critical launch mission executed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was declared a failure. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) experienced significant orbital deviation after liftoff and failed to place the military Earth observation satellite designated EOS-N1 and 15 other payloads into their intended orbits. This incident marks the second consecutive failure for this rocket model, which was once regarded as India's "mainstay" in space, with the last failure occurring in May 2025, resulting in the destruction of the EOS-09 satellite.

This series of setbacks not only delays India's plans to enhance its space-based surveillance capabilities but also casts a shadow over its burgeoning commercial launch sector. ISRO is attempting to leverage its cost advantages to carve out a share of the global satellite launch market, directly competing with industry giants like SpaceX.

Despite facing headwinds, India still maintains a certain growth momentum in the heavy-lift launch sector. In December 2025, India's largest heavy-lift rocket, LVM3, successfully executed a commercial mission, placing a heavy satellite into orbit, demonstrating its potential in high-value launch services.

China: Accelerating Reusable Technology Updates, Commercial Space Expected to Hit the "Accelerate Button"

On December 3, 2025, Blue Arrow Aerospace's Future Three successfully achieved orbital flight. Although the first-stage recovery failed, it validated the core flight control scheme, with promising iterations to follow. Reusable technology is key to reducing launch costs by an order of magnitude, and its breakthrough signifies that the largest cost bottleneck for large-scale constellation construction is being broken.

Meanwhile, Chinese commercial space enterprises are entering a critical moment in the capital market. Blue Arrow Aerospace's IPO application on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board was accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on December 31, 2025, aiming to raise 7.5 billion yuan, potentially becoming the "first stock in commercial space."

In June of this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission officially included commercial space in the applicable scope of the fifth set of listing standards for the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, allowing unprofitable companies with core technologies to go public for financing. In just a few months thereafter, several companies, including China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Tianbing Technology, and Xinghe Power, initiated listing guidance.

According to Guojin Securities, China launched rockets approximately 35 times in 2020 and is expected to launch about 66 times in 2025, showing relatively moderate growth. Once reusable rockets achieve milestone progress in commercialization, they are expected to hit the "accelerate button" for China's deployment of low Earth orbit satellites According to an earlier report by Shanghai Securities Journal, China applied to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for frequency orbit resources for over 200,000 satellites by December 2025, of which 190,000 are from the newly established "national team" Radio Innovation Institute. This is the first new type of research and development institution in China's radio management technology field aimed at technological innovation and achievement transformation, indicating that the application for satellite frequency orbit resources has risen to the level of national strategy