> Isn't that most large capital intensive efforts?

No.

For example in university i was part of a satellite design competition. We couldn’t let Chinese nationals on the team or we’d be breaking the law. There was a list of approved countries a team member could have citizenship from, if not we’d be guilty of violating export controls.

I wonder, could an American join a satellite design competition team in a Chinese school?

If an American did the US State Department might want a word or two with them.

Satellites are considered munitions… working on a foreign power’s weapons programs is… discouraged.