On October 21, a Brazilian government delegation visited the Shanghai facilities of Spacesail, a manufacturer of low-Earth orbit satellites. "We were impressed by what we saw, not only by their ability to produce up to one satellite per day, but also by their ambitious plans for expansion and development in space," said Juscelino Filho, communications minister, in a post on X, announcing that the company would be set up in Brazil within two years.

To facilitate its establishment, the Brazilian government has offered Spacesail the use of the Alcantara space base, located in northeastern Brazil, to launch its satellites. It also plans to sign memorandums of understanding, aimed at speeding up the company's arrival, during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the G20, to be held in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19.

These efforts underline Brazil's urgent need to attract space companies: The country is aiming to break the monopoly of Starlink, the satellite internet provider owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Since Starlink began operations in Brazil in June 2022, the company has secured 46% of the satellite internet market, with 265,000 subscriptions. Its discreet metal panels, which are very easy and inexpensive to install, have been a huge success in Brazil's Amazon region, where fiber optic infrastructure is lacking. According to the National Telecommunications Agency, Starlink equipment has been set up in 96% of the region's municipalities, enabling many indigenous communities to access the internet for the first time.

Starlink "facilitates access to telemedicine and allows us to develop community tourism," noted Walter Kumaruara, a 28-year-old Indigenous man from Baixo Tapajos, in the western state of Para. "The internet also enables young Indigenous people to pursue university studies without leaving their territory by taking online courses," he added.

However, the Brazilian government is increasingly concerned about the growing dependence on Starlink and fears that Musk's influence is becoming too great. "We don't know to what extent this [his potential appointment in a future Trump administration] could affect Brazil's sovereignty," said a worried Yasmin Curzi, professor of human rights at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro and researcher at the Karsh Institute for Democracy at the University of Virginia. "Starlink could disclose internet traffic data to the US government."

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