Starlink and Amazon Satellites Enclose the Arctic and Africa
July 3, 2026
As Amazon and SpaceX accelerate the deployment of low-Earth orbit constellations, regulators in Namibia and South Africa are struggling to impose national oversight on borderless wireless infrastructure. This private enclosure of the orbital commons coincides with a widening infrastructure gap in Nunavut, where federal rhetoric on Arctic sovereignty fails to provide the material connectivity now being brokered by tech oligopolies.
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BRIEF
Can Africa regulate Starlink? Namibia and South Africa lead the resistance
Starlink operates in nearly 30 African countries, often on cut-price licences and with no local entity. Faced with this expansion, regulators and governments are trying to take back control.
- geopolitics
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BRIEF
Amazon has enough satellites to launch its Starlink competitor
Payloads of Amazon’s Leo satellites sorted by launch vehicle. | Image: Amazon Amazon says it now has enough satellites operating in low-Earth orbit to light up its Starlink internet competitor. With last night's launch, Amazon Leo has 396 satellites deployed, which is "enough to support continuous s…
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More IPO Fluffing: Musk’s Starlink Hints At Becoming Full Wireless Phone Company
Last month, SpaceX began making lobbying filings in support of phone unlocking rules making it easier to switch your phone between wireless providers. You might recall that the Biden FCC was on the cusp of installing such rules before the Trump administration, hand in hand with giant telecoms, disma…
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power
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BRIEF
The gap keeps widening for Canada's North
The prime minister has loudly touted Canada's latest commitments to its Arctic sovereignty. On the ground in Nunavut, those commitments have yet to bear any real fruit.