UK takes on Elon Musk in the broadband space race

A heavily criticised investment in OneWeb could bring the government a first bite at the lucrative satellite internet market

They are invisible to the naked eye, but can leave a streak of light across an astronomer's telescope. Above our heads, the constellation of small satellites orbiting the Earth is expanding every month. Often no bigger than a fridge, they are part of a new space race as rivals compete to beam broadband internet to the hardest-to-reach places on Earth.

The frontrunners are Starlink, backed by US tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, and OneWeb, which is part- owned by the British taxpayer. The latter's plan to build a network of 650 satellites is a centrepiece of the UK's space strategy, unveiled in September.