Amazon will deploy more than 5,000 satellites into orbit to provide global data and telephony services as competition in the commercial space sector intensifies.

The planned satellite constellation marks a significant expansion from the Jeff Bezos-owned company’s current fleet of 390 satellites presently in orbit.

Amazon has submitted an application to federal regulatory authorities seeking approval to launch up to 5,105 internet satellites as part of a constellation designed to deliver direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity.

The company first announced its plans to establish a D2D network in April, alongside an agreement to acquire satellite operator Globalstar in a deal valued at approximately $11.6 billion.

Direct-to-device networks provide cellular connectivity directly to smartphones and other hardware via satellites, bypassing conventional terrestrial cell towers.

In its filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Amazon stated that its D2D network will combine its existing infrastructure with Globalstar’s satellites and wireless spectrum.

According to the regulatory filing, Amazon is targeting users who are currently “unserved or underserved” by existing wireless communications providers.

Other intended applications include supporting emergency operations such as search and rescue, as well as expanding connectivity options for remote construction sites, vehicle fleets, and supply chains operating in areas where terrestrial networks are difficult to deploy.

“Amazon looks forward to delivering on the promise of direct-to-device connectivity, including to the millions of people who live, travel, and work in places beyond the reach of today’s networks,” the company wrote in the filing.

Amazon previously stated that it expects the Globalstar acquisition to close in 2027, with deployment of the D2D network scheduled to begin in 2028.

Since last April, the company has been working to construct its Leo space-based internet network, which aims to compete directly with Starlink, the dominant provider in low-Earth orbit internet services.

However, Amazon’s planned constellation remains considerably smaller than that of Starlink, which holds a dominant position in the mobile satellite market with approximately 11,000 satellites.

Musk also maintains what analysts consider a virtual monopoly in the launch market through SpaceX, which is reportedly planning to introduce a mobile service tailored for US consumers.

The two billionaires are also competing to design NASA’s next lunar landing vehicle, with respective models from Blue Origin and SpaceX set to begin testing next year.

Last month, the FCC granted Amazon a regulatory reprieve by approving its request for a waiver from the requirement to deploy 1,600 first-generation satellites by July 30.

However, Amazon remains obligated to deploy its full planned constellation of 3,232 satellites by July 2029.

Amazon’s D2D network will compete directly with SpaceX’s new Starlink Mobile service. SpaceX acquired wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar to support its network and currently offers direct-to-cell service in the US through T-Mobile.

The global economic balance sheet reached approximately 1.8 quadrillion (1,800 trillion) in 2025, rising from $1.7 quadrillion in 2024.

According to a report published by McKinsey, the world is wealthier than ever before. However, this wealth relies on increasingly inflated valuations of paper assets rather than real output. How this contradiction resolves itself will determine the future of the world’s leading economies, the report stated.

The report noted that several asset classes have further expanded their imbalance with the “underlying” economy. This dynamic heightens the probability of corrections occurring through inflation, asset valuation losses, or, in the best-case scenario, productivity gains.

Unlike growth in the capital stock that generates real output, the tendency to rely on elevated valuations fuels the risk of a painful correction—either through falling asset prices or prolonged inflation.

Nevertheless, a more optimistic scenario exists in which the world essentially grows into these high asset valuations, supported by an artificial intelligence-driven productivity boom.

Researchers found that global household wealth reached $570 trillion, representing a $40 trillion increase compared to 2025.

Yet only 20% of this increase stemmed from genuine capital accumulation—namely net new investments in machinery and equipment, housing and buildings, infrastructure, and intellectual property.

The remainder was driven by a combination of inflation and price appreciation in the market value of existing assets.

In the US and Canada, equity values served as the primary driver of wealth expansion. In China, France, and Germany, paper wealth declined under the weight of falling real estate prices. In the UK and Japan, inflation pushed asset values higher.

This marks a more extreme iteration of a long-standing trend: from 2000 to 2024, net investments accounted for 30% of global wealth growth.

Examining the structure from the baseline up, real assets encompass real estate, infrastructure, machinery and equipment, and intellectual property owned by households, governments, and corporations. These carry a combined value of $620 trillion and constitute global net assets across all sectors.

Financial assets held outside the financial sector include equities, bonds, loans, foreign currency and deposits, and pension funds. Every financial asset carries a corresponding liability, and these balance each other out on a global level.

This “financial layer” functions to separate wealth from asset ownership and stood close to the total value of real assets.

The financial sector, meanwhile, intermediates between these financial assets and liabilities. With a volume of $550 trillion, the financial sector has reached 90% of the value of real assets.

Wealth is ultimately the balancing item on balance sheets, equaling the difference between total assets and liabilities. This stood at $600 trillion in 2025.

In 2025, the growing detachment of balance sheets from the real economy was driven by the world’s two largest economies.

With the share of corporate profits in GDP doubling since 2000, US equity valuations rose to 2.4 times the net asset value of corporations.

In China, corporate debt reached 80% of real assets, compared to a global average of 50%.

US public debt is hovering near all-time highs, while the fastest increase was recorded in China.

On a global scale, a major share of corporate and household debt, as well as real estate assets, approached 25-year averages relative to GDP.

Inflation contributed to this normalization; however, values remain well above pre-2000 levels. Against a backdrop of flat investment, the ratio of productive assets to GDP remained stagnant.

Jan Mischke, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, told Axios: “We can now say that every asset on this planet has been financialized.”

There are several plausible paths through which these elevated asset valuations could uncoil. One is a simple “muddle through” approach: low growth leads to low interest rates, which allows high valuations to persist. This is roughly what occurred in major economies during the 2010s.

However, more dramatic possibilities exist—some positive, others alarming.

The best-case scenario for the global economy involves a productivity leap driven by AI or other sources that sparks a GDP boom, thereby justifying the high valuations of equities and other asset classes. This is essentially what occurred in the late 1990s.

A more pessimistic possibility is that sustained inflationary pressure erodes the real value of assets, forcing them back toward historical norms and leaving people poorer in real terms. This occurred, arguably, during 2021–2022.

The most concerning scenario is a global asset price reset of the kind witnessed in 2002 and 2008.

“Overstretched scenarios have a tendency to mean-revert, including in positive ways like productivity acceleration,” Mischke said. “But occasionally, you also get a major debt crisis or a market crash.”

Arvind Govindarajan, one of the co-authors of the report, posed the central question: “For us in the US, the real question is: Will productivity and GDP be higher—in which case we see a productivity boost—or will we slide into an inflationary scenario?”

Entering 2026, major economies followed diverging roadmaps, according to the report. The US operated under a “productivity acceleration” scenario, though high public debt and stretched equities keep the possibility of “persistent inflation” or a “balance sheet reset” on the table.

Europe drifted toward “secular stagnation,” as sluggish demand pulled down growth and interest rates.

In China, while a partial balance sheet reset unfolded amid falling real estate values, public spending and corporate investment continued to support balance sheet growth.

Argentine President Javier Milei has sparked a major diplomatic crisis with Brazil after making scathing remarks directed at President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and senior Brazilian officials during a visit to the country, prompting Brasília to recall its ambassador to Buenos Aires.

The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the recall of Ambassador Julio Bitelli for consultations on Sunday, just one day after Milei attended an event in São Paulo where Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, was formally endorsed as a presidential candidate.

Speaking at the Saturday rally, Milei targeted President Lula directly, accusing the Brazilian leader of being a “thief” and a “criminal,” among other allegations.

Milei also directed harsh language at Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, calling him “trash” after the magistrate denied the Argentine leader’s request to visit Jair Bolsonaro. The former Brazilian president is currently under house arrest, serving a 27-year prison sentence for his role in an attempted coup d’état.

The head of the Federal Supreme Court, Justice Edson Fachin, condemned the remarks, stating that Milei’s comments constituted “disrespectful language directed at a judge of the country’s highest court on Brazilian soil.”

Following the public outburst, a spokesperson for the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Ambassador Bitelli had been summoned back to Brasília for consultations.

The escalation drew swift condemnation from Argentine political figures across the opposition spectrum. Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández posted a video on X on Sunday detailing Milei’s remarks.

“Milei went to Brazil screaming like a madman and demanding to visit an imprisoned coup plotter. Insulting the president of a sister nation and our most vital trading partner is unforgivable,” Fernández wrote.

Concurrently, Axel Kicillof, the governor of Buenos Aires province and a prospective candidate in Argentina’s upcoming general elections, announced on X that he had contacted Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira to clarify that “Milei does not represent the feelings of the Argentine people.”

Kicillof expressed “deep shame at watching President Milei humiliate and insult the Brazilian government, its president, and the entire nation,” adding that the province of Buenos Aires remains committed to regional integration and respect for allied nations.

Highlighting Brazil’s status as Argentina’s primary trading partner, Kicillof warned that “with these provocations, Milei is jeopardizing investments, exports, thousands of jobs, and broader Argentine interests—all to endorse a candidate at the behest of Trump.”

President Lula has so far refrained from responding directly to Milei’s personal attacks. However, in an opinion piece published Sunday in The Washington Post, where he criticized US tariffs on Brazilian goods as a “strategic mistake,” Lula stressed national sovereignty.

“Brazil’s destiny will be determined solely by Brazilians, without external interference and without submission,” Lula wrote.

The political clash coincides with heightened diplomatic friction between Brasília and Washington. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently denied visa applications for two US Department of State officials planning to travel to the South American nation next week. The ministry offered no official explanation for the rejection.

Lula is seeking re-election in the upcoming general vote, where he is expected to face Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, whose family maintains close ties to the administration of US President Donald Trump.