Elon Musk courts India again for Starlink launch after approval snub, report says he has reapplied

Tech trillionaire Elon Musk has once again vouched for Starlink in India. Musk believes that his satellite internet service can help the "least-served" communities and areas in the country which lack proper network connectivity.

In Short

• Elon Musk says Starlink can help least-served communities in India
• Starlink has reportedly reapplied to start service in India
• Unlike traditional networks, Starlink is better suited to serve rural areas

Elon Musk has been talking about bringing Starlink, his satellite internet service, to India for some time now. While the project continues to face regulatory hurdles, Musk has now stated that Starlink can help cater to the least-served communities in India which may not have proper connectivity.

On X, the SpaceX CEO replied to a post on the need for Starlink in India. He wrote, “Starlink would help the least served in India, especially in rural areas.” The original post claimed that many villages in the country still did not have proper 4G connectivity. Internet subscriptions in rural areas are also fewer than in urban areas too, when it comes to density. In rural areas, the subscription density was 48.31 per 100 people, compared with 126.80 in urban India.

Elon Musk’s comments come as Starlink has renewed efforts to launch its service in India. As per reports, the company has again applied to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, or IN-SPACe, for approval of its Gen 2 constellation, which includes newer capabilities such as direct-to-device connectivity. The Ministry of Home Affairs previously froze approval for Starlink due to security concerns.

What is Starlink and can it really help rural areas?

Starlink is a satellite-based internet service. Unlike traditional geostationary satellites, which are placed about 36,000 km from Earth and can create high latency, Starlink’s satellites operate much closer, at about 550 km in low Earth orbit. This allows faster data travel and lower latency. Starlink also does not need cell towers or any other ground infrastructure apart from a customer kit.

Elon Musk has previously mentioned that Starlink is aimed mainly at remote regions where laying fibre is too expensive or not practical. In rural areas, where cell towers are far and few, Starlink could help provide better coverage. Though it cannot entirely replace your traditional networks run by telecom operators like Jio or Airtel.

Starlink can also remain useful during disasters such as earthquakes and floods, when cell towers and power lines may fail.

The service has a fixed capacity that works best in areas of low density, which can be fine in remote areas, but may struggle in a city block with 50,000 people. Musk has stated in the past that Starlink might serve only 1 or 2 per cent of people in a dense city, where cell towers are more prominent.

In December last year, a glitch on the Starlink website showed India prices for the service with a residential plan priced at Rs 8,600 per month along with a hardware kit costing Rs 34,000. Later, the company clarified that those were not the real prices for when it does begin services in the country.

No non-geostationary satellite company, including Starlink and Jio’s joint venture with SES, has started commercial services in India so far, mainly because security clearance and spectrum allocation are still pending. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made recommendations on satellite spectrum pricing, but the government has not taken a final decision.

Telecom operators have said such services could threaten their business and have argued that satellite operators should follow the same rules if they are allowed to offer mobile connectivity directly to consumers.

- Ends