So long and thanks for all the space junk: China-based Starlink competitor SpaceSail plans to have 15,000 satellites deployed by 2030, and it's not the only one with its eyes on the skies

People watch from Canaveral National Seashore as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket is carrying 49 Starlink internet satellites for a broadband network.

If I say to you "satellite-based internet provider", your first thought is probably Starlink. A subsidiary of Elon Musk's space technology company SpaceX, Starlink has launched a total of 8,000 internet-providing satellites as of February 22, with many more planned in the future. However, rival satellite companies are waiting in the wings, including the reportedly Chinese state-backed SpaceSail, which plans to have up to 15,000 satellites orbiting Earth by 2030.

SpaceSail signed an agreement to provide internet coverage in Brazil last year and announced it was in talks with over 30 countries to provide a similar service (via Reuters). Brazil is also in talks with Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper, an Amazon subsidiary that also plans to launch thousands of internet-beaming satellites into the inky beyond above our heads.