New Delhi: Elon Musk-owned Starlink has received authorization from the Indian National Space Promotion & Authorization Centre, or IN-SPACe, for its Gen 1 constellation capacity over India.
IN-SPACe, under the Department of Space, Government of India, is tasked to supervise oversees space activities in the country, particularly by private players.
This authorization is considered the last regulatory hurdle before beginning to offer satellite-based internet in India. The authorization has been given for five years till 7 July 2030, sources confirmed.
“Starlink was granted the approval after following the necessary process and performing all the checks,” an official said.
Jio Platforms’ joint venture partner, Luxembourg-based SES, has also secured authorization for a total of 24 satellites over India, the In-SPACe website showed.
With this approval, Starlink has joined Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES joint venture in getting all the required approvals to launch satellite internet services in the country. Amazon’s Kuiper is also seeking to enter the country and is awaiting the government’s approval of its application.
The authorisation comes at a time when India and the US are in the midst of a trade deal. Interestingly, Musk announced his exit from US president Donald Trump’s administration on May 29 and stepped down as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Starlink will now need to set up earth station gateways, ground-based facilities that connect satellites to local networks, a critical component of internet connectivity. However, the commercial launch will have to wait as the government has yet to allocate spectrum.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended administrative allocation of spectrum, as opposed to auctions, for satellite internet services. It has said that Satcom companies would have to pay annual spectrum charges of either 4% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) or ₹3,500 per MHz, whichever is higher.
The recommendations are pending with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and the Centre is expected to notify the terms and pricing for spectrum allotment soon.
Satcom operators will also have to pay an annual licence fee of 8% of AGR as per the DoT’s current authorization terms. This is similar to what telecom operators pay, which includes a 5% licence fee and 3% towards the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Additionall, TRAI has recommended an annual charge of Rs 500 per subscriber for satellite service providers in urban areas.
This approval for Starlink came a month after it received a crucial licence from the DoT. On June 6, the DoT granted Starlink the critical Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) licence after a three-year wait.
