A Chinese state-owned enterprise on Tuesday successfully placed 18 satellites into orbit, the launch of the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) took place at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in the northern Shanxi province. LEO satellites usually operate at altitudes of 300km to 2,000km from the Earth’s surface and have the advantage of being cheaper and providing more efficient transmission than satellites at higher orbits. Is this a direct Starlink rival ?