Chinese LEO Constellation Could Upend Competitive Market, NSR Says

China's satcom initiatives -- such as the nation's recently announced Hongyan low earth orbit satcom constellation, targeted to be operational in 2021 -- are less motivated by return on investment than on increasing the nation's power and influence and could prove a market challenge for Western operators, Northern Sky Research consultant Jose Del Rosario blogged Tuesday. While Hongyan is unlikely to get U.S. or Canadian market access, a business challenge for Western constellation operators could come in the form of China financing packages that favor Hongyan over rival services from Western LEO operators targeting Eurasia or other low-income nation markets, he said.