Musk’s SpaceX to seek govt permit for Starlink internet services in India, report says

SpaceX will also seek statutory nods for landing rights & market access. However, earlier this year, Modi govt asked Starlink to refund all pre-orders until it received licences to operate.

SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, 29 June, 2021 | Reuters

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to seek a permit to launch satellite internet services in India under its Starlink brand, becoming the third company to apply for such a permit, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday.

SpaceX will also seek statutory approvals from the government for landing rights and market access, the report said, adding that it is likely to seek approvals from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to set up local gateways.

SpaceX and DoT did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment after regular hours.

Earlier this year, the Indian government asked Starlink to refund all its pre-orders until it received licences to operate in the country.

SpaceX will “very shortly” apply for a Global Mobile Personal Communications By Satellite (GMPCS) services licence to Indian authorities, the report said, without giving further details. Bharti Group-backed OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s satellite arm have already applied for the permit.