These platforms, alongside a new AI-enabled optical satellite dubbed Polaris, aim to support functions ranging from broadband coverage to environmental monitoring focused on the equatorial region.

digital systems.

This next phase of the group’s space programme comprises the delivery of Nebula – a laser communications demonstrator for ultra-fast networks – in the second half of 2026, and the roll-out of the NeuSAR-2 constellation by 2030.

Others also question the logic of designating Sinopec as the consolidator. Chen Jiulin, a former CNAF deputy general manager, said rivals PetroChina and CNOOC Ltd. offer comparable industrial capabilities and an equally strong strategic fit with aviation fuel and SAF development."

market.

“With the advancement of fuels such as SAF, whoever controls the terminal refueling network will have an advantage in controlling market entry and pricing for future alternative fuels,” industry data provider GL Consulting wrote in a November report.

aerospace, micro-electronics, precision engineering and artificial intelligence make it well placed to capture new opportunities in the sector, he added."

According to the FT report, it had initially declined to intervene when Manus first moved to Singapore, apparently judging that an AI agent app did not yet fall into that strategic infrastructure category."

Those are not consumer apps, but the next DeepSeek-style frontier model, the next Nvidia and other large-scale AI platforms.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s central AI policy planner, has been at the centre of that push.

before signing any digital trade agreements with third parties that could potentially harm US interests."

Jakarta is adamant that these requests are not related to the aim of the tariff talks, which is to balance trade between the two countries, they added.

Indonesia also has an objection to Washington’s request for the South-east Asian state to consult with it

and enhance maritime domain awareness and regional cooperation”.

However, Indonesia has told the US that it cannot meet this South China Sea demand, nor the demand to purchase US-made drones, said the two sources.

when fiscal and monetary policy did cross paths during the pandemic, her credibility meant investors gave Indonesia the benefit of the doubt."

But those concerns have increased since Prabowo took office in late 2024. When respected former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was fired in September, the bank lost a protector. She was often the person who watered down attempts to hobble BI and,

Germany’s plans to pour money into the sector will make it the third-biggest spender worldwide on space technology after the US and China, according to the space consultancy Novaspace."

Starlink has since launched an LEO satellite service for defence and intelligence customers known as Starshield. But many countries, nervous of relying on Musk or the US, want to develop their own secure and sovereign networks.

"No stockpile or reserve will displace China's dominance in critical mineral supply chains, because its position is really structural. It's the scale, it's the depth of processing, the price setting power and industrial integration," he said."

If you don't manufacture anything, it has no purpose."

Vivoda of the Sustainable Minerals Institute predicts it will take three years to build a fully credible strategic reserve. He sees it playing an important role, but only as part of broader diversification and de-risking efforts.