The "Satellite" could be a rich person's enclave. I can see an extension where someone in a wealthy powerful country has a good standard of living, but it depends on the toil and environmental destruction which affects those people "outside".

I can't help thinking you're mistaking a metaphor for a simile (where the comparison is explicit).

Everyone knows that the existing SOTA satellite (the space station) is pretty crude as habitats go, but it's a good stand-in for the bubble that the ultra-wealthy are able to inhabit thanks to an array of economic and security infrastructure. A billionaire today could spend the rest of their life on megayachts, private jets/helicopters, and island resorts without ever having to use the same streets as you and I to get around.