"But should a nation like China decide it doesn't want uncensored Internet streaming to its shores from space, there's nothing really stopping it from blasting the satellites out of the sky either."

After the recent events, I wouldn't be completely surprised if the US decided to claim them to be "a threat to national security" (which translates to enabling copyright infringement) as well, in a not too distant future. It may sound too extreme today, but so did SOPA ten years ago.