They are invisible to the naked eye, but can leave a streak of light across an astronomer’s telescope. Above our heads, the constellation of small satellites orbiting the Earth is expanding every month. Often no bigger than a fridge, they are part of a new space race as rivals compete to beam broadband internet to the hardest-to-reach places on Earth.The frontrunners are Starlink, backed by US tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, and OneWeb, which is part- owned by the British taxpayer. The latter’s plan to build a network of 650 satellites is a centrepiece of the UK’s space strategy, unveiled in September.In 2020, OneWeb was facing insolvency and the government was persuaded to rescue it. To Boris Johnson it was a gift from the heavens. The UK had been bounced by Brexit from the European Union’s Galileo satellite project, and there was Dominic Cummings, technology wonk and chief adviser, touting the network as a pathway back into spac… Click below to read the full story from TechCrunch
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UK takes on Elon Musk in the broadband space race
