China’s SpaceSail launches fundraising round in Starlink rivalry

SpaceSail has opened a new fundraising round as China accelerates its bid to build a state-backed rival to Starlink. The Shanghai government-backed low Earth orbit operator will allow no more than three new investors, with the new stake capped at 20%, while existing shareholders are also expected to take part.

The cash is earmarked for satellite-constellation construction, technology research and development, market expansion and ordinary operating costs. SpaceSail, also known as Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, is aiming to deploy as many as 15,000 low Earth orbit satellites by 2030, a scale that would place it among the most ambitious internet-from-space projects outside SpaceX.

Brazil has already become a visible part of that push. Brazil’s communications ministry and Telebras signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Spacesail Technologies in Brasília on November 19, 2024, with commercial services slated to begin in 2026. The agreement was designed to extend satellite communications and broadband to remote and underserved areas, including schools and hospitals, giving SpaceSail a concrete overseas foothold rather than a purely domestic mandate.

The company’s satellite buildout is already underway through the broader Qianfan, or Thousand Sails, constellation effort, sometimes called G60 Starlink. Chinese reporting said the project had reached about 200 satellites in orbit by June 5, 2026. Chinese state media also reported an 18-satellite launch on May 13, 2026, as the eighth batch of orbital assets for the constellation, lifted from the Taiyuan Space Launch Center in Shanxi province.

The fundraising comes just days after SpaceX completed what has been described as the world’s largest initial public offering, raising $85.7 billion. That timing sharpens the contrast between Elon Musk’s company, which already has a global operational lead, and China’s effort to build sovereign control over satellite internet infrastructure that can serve commercial customers, government users and, potentially, tighter national communications oversight.

SpaceSail’s Brazil deal shows why the stakes are larger than one company’s balance sheet. Low Earth orbit networks are becoming strategic infrastructure, shaping not only broadband access but also who controls the pipes for communications resilience, emergency connectivity and information flow. SpaceSail’s new round suggests Beijing intends to keep funding that challenge even as the capital requirements, and the competition, continue to rise.