In early September 2016, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket burst into flame with an explosive boom during the engine test. Its payload, the Amos-6 satellite, was also subsequently burned to ashes. Right before the explosion, the top 1/3 of the rocket caught fire and many people still have a clear recollection of just how tremendous the scene was.

 The destroyed Amos-6 satellite leased by Facebook was intended to bring Internet access across Africa. It was years of research crumbled to dust in just a few minutes. It also left Mark Elliot Zuckerberg with no choice but to postpone his Internet.org project.

 Despite the unfortunate accident, SpaceX pushed ahead with its SpaceX Satellite Constellation project. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, investigated the cause of the explosion and at the same time, consoled Zuckerberg with a new bigger project to launch 4,425 satellites into space. That's about three times more satellites that orbit the Earth today and not to mention, the largest space network project up to date. It is indeed reminiscent of the American space projects in the 1980s. The only difference is the purpose has changed from military service to the delivery of Internet from space.

 Back in 2015, Musk first asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to permit the technical test of around 700 satellites. This project was estimated to cost up to USD 10 billion taking over five years. This time, his request for permission implies that the project is coming close to implementation. This space-based Internet system will be used to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services across the world.

 SpaceX plans to send 1,600 satellites at one orbital altitude and follow up with another 2,825 satellites placed in the same shells at different altitudes. Once the deployment is complete, the system will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1Gbps) and low latency broadband services (25–35 ms) for consumers and businesses all around the world.

 However, the ambitious SpaceX project already faces rivals in the high-tech field, which shows that the competition in the global space-based Internet system is tough.

 In 1957, humans sent the very first satellite into space and since then, the number of satellites orbiting the Earth has continued to increase. The satellite communications system directly involved with space-based Internet is divided into three types: fixed satellite service (FSS), mobile satellite service (MSS) and data relay satellite (DRS). And the global competition takes place in all three areas.

 The fixed satellite service covers broadband communications, fixed and live streaming services. In general, this service system operates at medium-high altitudes for broadband communications services and broadcast TV services through C-Band (4–8 GHz), Ku-Band (12–18 GHz) and Ka-Band (27–40 GHz). The 21st century saw the rapid growth in the global Internet service market. The scope of application widened and broadband communications became increasingly important as it could help eliminate signal dead zones. Likewise, the number of satellites orbiting the Earth and being studied rose to keep up with the increased demand.

 One of the typical high-altitude broadband communications satellite projects is the next-generation broadband satellite, ViaSat-2 by ViaSat, which is a communications company based in the United States. It will be a commercial communications satellite with the capacity of 350 Gbit/s providing broadband service to over 2.5 million users at up to 25 Mbit/s. Though it is a single satellite, it has a remarkable capacity to meet the average demand of the big cities of China for broadband. ViaSat, however, does not stop there. It took another leap with the ViaSat-3 satellite announced in 2016. According to ViaSat, it will have the capacity of 1 Tbit/s. In the medium Earth orbit (MEO), O3b began commercial services. Its constellation of 12 MEO satellites is the very first of its kind and it plans to extend up to 20 satellites by 2018 with their performance expected to reach 12 Gbit/s.

 The mobile satellite service system for mobile communications, broadcast and data collection has used low frequency bands, for example L-Band (1–2 GHz) and S-Band (2–4 GHz) at the initial phase. But it now turns to high frequency bands such as Ku-Band and Ka-Band for faster service. In the high Earth orbit, Inmarsat-5 F3 launched in August 2015 offers high bandwidth service for users on land, at sea and in the air at up to 50 Mbit/s. In other words, passengers of some of international airlines can use broadband service.

 Inmarsat will advance the high-speed broadband Ka-band service with its 5th generation mobile service satellite system. However, the most brilliant achievements are being made in the low Earth orbit. Oneweb now works on the launch of a constellation of 648 low Earth orbit satellites. It will operate in Ku-band with each satellite providing a high throughput of 8 Gbit/s and together up to 5–10 Tbit/s. Once the system is allocated, it will ensure Internet access at 50 Mbit/s with low latency between 20 ms and 30 ms.

 Another noticeable low Earth orbit project is the 1st generation Iridium project by Motorola based in Waterloo, Canada. Though it ended up in failure in terms of commercial use, Motorola is pushing ahead with the next Iridium project as the cost of satellite launching goes down. The next Iridium project will be led by Thales Alenia Space and it will have total 72 satellites and 9 backup satellites using IP switching for a faster and more flexible broadband network.

 A data relay satellite (DRS) is used by stationary spacecraft and air platforms to provide measurement, control and data transmission services. The whole world now sees a generational shift in data relay satellite systems. Among them all, the third generation of the American tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) is taking center stage. It provides faster and more flexible services at Ka-band. Meanwhile, European countries are striving to improve data relay performance, for example applying radar communications and other new technologies as a way of developing their own data relay satellite service.

 What we can extrapolate from all the projects above is that the global satellite communications service is moving toward broadband network along with increasing use of high frequency band. Recently, platforms are being built in space outside the Earth. That is because the cost of launch decreased while the value of the space-based Internet and frequency spectrum resources increased. As you know, different signals in the same frequency band cause interference. In order to avoid such an interference, every country maintains strict control and management over spectrum resources inside their territory when it comes down to wireless communications. Normally, a small number of communications service providers buy and hold the right to transmit signals over specific frequency bands. However, satellite frequency bands are not limited to a certain country because they pass across borders throughout the world. Now, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) follows the first-come, first-served rule. It means resources, i.e., unlicensed frequency bands will be given to a country that finds them first – whichever country it may be. Such a rule drives the high growth of the field as everyone is going all out to take frequency bands. And as you could imagine, the competition between countries for scarce spectrum resources is getting more intense than ever.

 China has 10 communications satellites mostly in C- and Ku-bands, covering the mainland China and the Asia-Pacific region. And as part of its 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, it plans to launch Zhongxing-16 and Zhongxing-18 satellites soon for Internet connectivity across relevant regions. In terms of data relay satellite, China has completed building its first-generation system. It covers about 78% of the surface of the Earth and above all, it provides the service to all airplanes at 300 km in midair. And the second generation is expected to have better performance.

 China announced the medium- and long-term civil space infrastructure development project for broadband Internet access from space. According to the project, it will ensure up to 20 communications satellites by 2020 and then 25 by 2025 to meet growing global demand. In 2016, the State Council of the People's Republic of China unveiled 'Made in China 2025' and in regard to air equipment and support, it said that China will strengthen the space-based service capabilities covering satellite sensors, communications and GPS through development of new satellites, space platforms, payloads and all-round Internet systems.

 In this context, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Ministry of Science and Technology and Chinese Academy of Engineering undertook joint research. With advanced technologies along the increasing demand, China will become a power in the space-based Internet service market that's the future of information flow. However, it does not have the capability of building stations on the ground to cover the whole world due to military and political constraints. It therefore needs to improve the performance of its satellite network. In short, China will go through more complicated development of its total system rather than individual systems for the space-based Internet service.

 Also on the bright side, China is growing fast in the aviation field. Quantum communications satellite, Tiangong-2 is in operation after successful launch. China is one of the global leaders in the field of satellite-to-ground, highly accurate acquisition, tracking and ATP technologies. Its technological power shows that China will soon build optical communications link between satellites and across satellite to ground. In addition, the Asian version of a high-speed, high-performance space-based Internet system started to emerge.

 In Star Wars 1.0, the former Soviet Union that once had overwhelming power throughout the world lost the competition. Thanks to that, the United States remained the absolute power in the field of space exploration and technology. Now that Star Wars 2.0 has begun, the focus is on who will be the winner this time.