The core question is, 'what's the use of space anyways?' Orbits have two nice properties - they're high up, so you can see lots of stuff, and they're reasonably stationary with respect to the rotation of the earth, which lets you get global(ish) coverage without needing a huge number of accessors or high system replacement rates like aircraft or ground-based sensors need.
Communications and surveillance are the two largest opportunities, and a variety of companies have already sprung up (Starlink, Kuiper, Planet, Spire...) in addition to traditional players (OrbCom, Iridium, Maxar). There are some esoteric proposals for other uses, like manufacturing or bitcoin mining [0], but I don't think they provide nearly enough benefit compared to Earth-based competitors at this point.
Communications and surveillance are the two largest opportunities, and a variety of companies have already sprung up (Starlink, Kuiper, Planet, Spire...) in addition to traditional players (OrbCom, Iridium, Maxar). There are some esoteric proposals for other uses, like manufacturing or bitcoin mining [0], but I don't think they provide nearly enough benefit compared to Earth-based competitors at this point.
[0]https://www.space.com/25626-bitcoins-satellites-deep-space-i...