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A Chinese state-backed company plans to launch a satellite service to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in Brazil, in the latest challenge for the US as Beijing expands its influence in Latin America.
The announcement from SpaceSail, which is developing high-speed internet services through low Earth orbit satellites, came as Chinese President Xi Jinping made a state visit to Brazil this week, where he signed an upgraded partnership with leftwing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The deal follows a bitter dispute between Musk, a close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump, and Brazilian authorities, who temporarily banned X this year over alleged misinformation on the billionaire investor’s social media network.
SpaceSail said it agreed with Brazilian state-owned group Telebrás to provide satellite communications and broadband internet services over Brazil’s vast territory, according to Chinese state media. The companies will study demand in areas not served by fibre optic infrastructure, with the aim of the service going live in 2026, the communications ministry said.
“SpaceSail is committed to being a long-term partner to Brazil,” chief executive Jie Zheng told reporters late on Tuesday.
Brazil has sought to encourage competitors to Starlink, which controls almost half the satellite internet market in Latin America’s largest nation.
Musk clashed with authorities in Brazil earlier this year after he refused to obey court orders to take down accounts that were allegedly promoting extremist content on X, resulting in the platform’s temporary ban in the country.
Starlink was dragged into the spat and forced to pay fines on behalf of X, as regulators warned it risked losing its licence if it did not comply with court rulings. Musk ultimately agreed to remove the accounts.
A fresh row broke out during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro when Lula’s wife Rosângela Lula da Silva swore at Musk at an event on social media regulation on Saturday. After apparently being startled by a ship horn, Brazil’s first lady said: “I think it’s Elon Musk. I’m not afraid of you. Fuck you, Elon Musk.”
One of Lula’s ministers, Paulo Teixeira, endorsed the insult, posting on X that she had “said what was stuck in our throats . . . about Elon Musk and his negative interference”.
Musk, the world’s richest man, responded to the first lady’s insult with laughing emojis, adding “they will lose the next election”, an apparent reference to Lula and his Workers’ party, which will face voters again in 2026.
SpaceSail’s announcement, which comes amid US concerns about its waning influence in a region once considered Washington’s “backyard”, coincided with a whirlwind diplomatic tour through South America by China’s president.
Xi attended the inauguration of a Chinese-built megaport in Peru last week, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima. He then travelled to Rio for the G20 leaders’ conference before being received in Brasília with full state honours on Wednesday.
Lula and Xi upgraded their “comprehensive strategic relationship” — already one of the highest in Beijing’s hierarchy of bilateral relations — to a “China-Brazil community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet”.
The agreement echoes one of Xi’s core diplomatic doctrines, building a “community of common destiny for mankind”, which analysts believe refers to Beijing’s pursuit of a multipolar world that will enable its rise while eroding US dominance.
The two leaders also signed dozens of deals spanning agriculture, trade, infrastructure, technology and industry.
But Brazil has not joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Xi’s flagship international infrastructure programme, despite being courted by Beijing. Officials in Brasília believe they can secure Chinese investments without full membership in the BRI.
SpaceSail, which also operates under the name Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, has ambitious plans to accelerate its satellite deployment, with a goal of 15,000 spacecraft in low Earth orbit by 2030, according to state media. It launched its first round of 18 satellites in August, followed by another round in October.
One of its previous international tie-ups in Germany became embroiled in legal disputes over the ownership of prized satellite spectrum licences.
Additional reporting by Tina Hu in Beijing and Michael Stott in London
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