(Photo by ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)
As SpaceX’s Starlink reaches deals with airlines to provide in-flight Wi-Fi, the company’s competition in China is starting to do the same.
The rival Chinese satellite constellation, Qianfan, is becoming an option to power in-flight Wi-Fi over Airbus jets. On Thursday, Qianfan’s developer, Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology, announced the strategic partnership with Europe’s Airbus.
The deal involves Airbus’s “High Bandwidth Connectivity Plus” antenna system for jets. It already offers satellite internet access to providers including SES and Hughes, and soon will alo support Amazon’s own upcoming satellite internet system, Leo.
Airbus is now expanding the antenna system to support satellite internet access from Qianfan, also known as Spacesail. The companies expect the integration to appeal to Chinese airlines looking for “locally-developed connectivity solutions.”
(Airbus)“This collaboration will leverage Spacesail’s future high-bandwidth, low-latency mega-constellation to provide Airbus customers with an additional IFC (in-flight connectivity) option—enhancing passengers’ onboard experience and optimising aircraft operations globally,” Airbus added.
The partnership occurs when Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology has been eying serving customers across the globe. A year ago, the company announced a deal with Brazil’s government to supply satellite internet in the country’s remote and rural areas, where Starlink has also been active.
The Chinese provider has alo mentioned holding business negotiations with over 30 countries. But for now, the Qianfan network only spans 108 satellites — likely too few to provide robust global coverage when the constellation is expected to reach over 15,000 satellites. Meanwhile, SpaceX has refrained from launching Starlink in mainland China due to apparent resistance from the country's government.
Still, China’s ambitions in the satellite internet space have sparked concern from the US’s Federal Communications Commission. “It’s space race 2.0. The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] is aggressively pursuing space dominance. They want to beat us to the orbits,” the FCC's Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz said last month. “And they want to offer nations around the world their own authoritarian-controlled internet from space.”
In response, the FCC has been trying to streamline its regulatory approach to help fast track satellite approvals from US companies to counter China’s space plans.