Space may be infinite, but the earth’s orbit is not.

Since 2019, the number of satellites circling the planet has doubled. Companies like Elon Musk's Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and even entities as large as the European Union have launched thousands of satellites in hopes of gaining an upper hand in the lucrative and wide-open market of orbital space around the earth.

This piece for People & Power will examine the new space race between public and private actors for control of Low Earth Orbit satellites, the military and commercial interests driving it, the impact on geopolitics, global communications and culture, and how this modern space race is not only changing the heavens, but the world below.