Starlink Plans Nine Gateway Stations Across India

As the Elon Musk-owned company prepares infrastructure for the commercial launch of its satellite communication (satcom) services in India, US-based Starlink intends to establish nine gateway earth stations throughout the country, including in Mumbai, Noida, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Lucknow, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

“The company has applied for 600 gigabit per second capacity over India through its Gen 1 constellation. The spectrum has been assigned on a provisional basis for demonstrating security related compliances,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified. The company has been allowed to import a total of 100 terminals and only fixed satellite service can be tested.

Also Read: OpenAI Hires Ex-xAI CFO Amid Intensifying AI Competition

Up until the time of publication, a question posed to Starlink's parent company, SpaceX, has not received a response. "Tough conditions have been set on Starlink to prevent any misuse while it does demonstrations of all the parameters for satcom services," the official said. Companies must adhere to strict security regulations since satcom is a vital industry that can be abused by anti-national actors.

"Starlink has been explicitly instructed that only Indian citizens should manage the stations pending security clearances for foreign nationals by the Union home affairs ministry," the person added, despite Starlink's desire to hire foreign technical specialists to work at the gateway stations.

After Reliance Jio's satellite company Jio Satellite and Eutelsat OneWeb, which is supported by the Bharti group, Starlink is the third company to be granted airwaves for proving security compliance. None of the businesses have received security agency approval as of yet. All three are awaiting spectrum allocation for the aim of launching satcom services in the nation after obtaining the necessary approvals.