Space

The space internet race is dawning. Here’s what to expect

The robotic arm in Japan's Kibo laboratory successfully deploys two combined satellites from Texas universities from the International Space Station, January 29, 2016. The pair of satellites -- AggieSat4 built by Texas A&M University students, and BEVO-2 built by University of Texas students -- together form the Low Earth Orbiting Navigation Experiment for Spacecraft Testing Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (LONESTAR) investigation.    REUTERS/NASA/Tim Peake/Handout   ATTENTION EDITORS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - TM3EC311KOA01

The number of operational satellites in orbit could increase ten-fold in the next 10 years. Image: REUTERS/NASA/Tim Peake/Handout

Peter Lyons
Senior Adviser, Emerging Technologies, Lapa Capital
Riad Hartani
Co-Founder, Xona Partners
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Space is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Space

Trackable man-made objects in orbit Image: CSpOC and UCS Database, March 2019
Submarine fibre-optic cable map, 2019
London to New York internet route over a satellite-to-satellite laser-optic network Image: Mark Handley/University College London
London to Singapore internet route over a satellite-to-satellite laser-optic network Image: Mark Handley/University College London
Orbital debris (red) created by March 2019 Indian ASAT satellite intercept (red), with the orbit of the International Space Station (white) as a comparison.
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
SpaceInternet Governance
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

1:50

This is the most colourful view of the universe yet

Sean Fleming and Ian Shine

November 8, 2023

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum