Max Bhatti and his team at Basalt Space work tirelessly in a dust-free tent, operating on 996-hour days to meet crucial deadlines. Their aim: to democratise satellite access for everyone from farmers to news organisations.

Their vision is ambitious; providing clients with their own constellation of satellites could revolutionise data collection and transmission, making services more reliable and less prone to interruption by gatekeepers like Starlink.

But the journey isn't smooth. With roughly 15,000 satellites orbiting Earth today, questions loom over environmental impacts and civil liberties as the number soars. And while SpaceX's Falcon rockets have made launches cheaper, success rates aren't always guaranteed, with about half of attempted satellite launches failing.

Despite these challenges, the wave of new companies entering this space brings both opportunity and anxiety. Could we see a future where anyone can directly task a satellite constellations to gather vital information, or are we just adding noise to the already crowded skies?