The European Union has set out a plan to create its own broadband satellite network, using public and private funding with a budget of €6 billion ($6.8 billion budget). Faultline’s first thought is that the project is guaranteed to come in way over budget. Despite listing all the usual commercial services, those could be provided by private sector satellite operators such as OneWeb and Starlink, but the EU clearly wants a network that it can control to enable robust protection for critical infrastructure and other security applications. It also aims to reduce European dependency on non-European solutions, the document notes, echoing the general desire by key economies to become more self-sufficient in key technologies such as satellite and 5G, as…