Re: You are perhaps assuming that its going to be GPS in the traditional sense?
Fair points - and thanks for the clarification re China.
Fact is, though (and cutting through all the political discussion and rants), that having a bunch of sattelites up (with the right radios!) could likely be used, in conjunction with base stations to cover the key areas of interest - at least for military tech. Coupled with the rural broadband, it might even prove to be be a useful asset.
LEO isnt ideal for a number of reasons mentioned before for navigation - but its not the end of the world if there are enough satellites up there and ground stations down here- I believe oneweb had an ultimate license for 48000 devices - though initial plans were for 1000, and there are only 68 operational ones at the moment.
Thinking about it, even the Ku band radios might be useful in LEO for jamming and anti-jamming high jinx.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
