SpaceX Clears Regulatory Hurdles In India To Launch Starlink. What It Means

SpaceX's Starlink has cleared most of the regulatory and licensing requirements in India, making it closer to launching its satellite internet services in the country.

The groundwork is now nearly complete, but several technical and procedural steps remain before Elon Musk-led company can launch its service, Dr Pawan Goenka, the Chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), which is India's space regulator, told NDTV.

"Even after authorisation, it will take a few months for the service to become operational," Mr Goenka, who held a meeting with Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX, during the latter's recent visit to India, said.

It is expected to get final approvals in the coming days, he said.

"She was trying to finish off all the open issues that are there for them to get all the authorizations and licenses. So that's a work in progress. Pretty much done and hopefully in the coming days it'll all be wrapped up," he said.

Starlink has been trying to get an entry into India -- which is one of the world's biggest telecom markets and has nearly 100 crore users -- since 2021.

Mr Musk's satellite communication company had earlier this month received the licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The satellite-based internet service provider is expected to begin operations in India by offering 600 to 700 Gbps, or gigabytes per second, of bandwidth, according to DoT sources.

Starlink Prices

Starlink has not yet announced the pricing for the low-Earth-orbit satellite internet service in India, where data prices are currently among the cheapest in the world. However, former Starlink India Director Sanjay Bhargava said in 2022 that it would cost about Rs 1.5 lakh per connection for the first year. From the second year, the cost would reduce to Rs 1.15 lakh, he had said.

Starlink presently has its market in over 100 countries, with residential and roaming plans. The residential plan, in most places, is categorised into two - Residential Lite (for low usage, smaller households) and Residential (for bigger households). 

In Asia, Starlink is mostly available in Mongolia, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Jordan, Yemen and Azerbaijan. 

India's neighbours, Bhutan and Bangladesh, also have access to Starlin's services. In Bhutan, the Residential Lite Plan costs about Rs 3,000 and the Standard Residential Plan about Rs 4,200. In Bangladesh, the Residential Lite costs nearly Rs 3,000 and the Residential plan costs Rs 4,000.

In the US, the internet service has been launched in almost every country, except a few places like Bolivia and Venezuela. The Residential Lite costs around Rs 2,500 and the Residential, Rs 4,000 in New York. In Canada, the first one is available for Rs 6,800 and the second, for nearly Rs 9,000.