The article explores how space-based connectivity, exemplified by Starlink, can bypass damaged ground infrastructure. It suggests that control over low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites may become a defining feature of future global power dynamics.

When US special forces raided Caracas and abducted president Nicolas Maduro and his wife in early January, the Venezuelan capital was hit by widespread power outages and communication blackouts. Yet, within hours of the attacks, connectivity began to return – not from paralysed ground infrastructure, but from space. Elon Musk’s Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, activated communications services across Venezuela via its vast constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites on terminals residents...