Jyotiraditya Scindia meets SpaceX president, calls satcom India's next connectivity frontier
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia met with SpaceX officials, including Gwynne Shotwell, to explore collaboration opportunities in satellite communications. Starlink, having received a satcom license, aims to support India's digital ambitions. The company awaits further approvals and spectrum allocation to begin offering broadband-from-space services, joining Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio-SES in the growing satcom market.
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Terming satcom as India's next frontier in connectivity, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday met top officials at Elon Musk-owned SpaceX to discuss opportunities for collaboration to power the country's digital ambitions through transformative satellite technologies Starlink , which has been granted a satcom licence by the government, called it a great start to the journey.'Had a productive meeting with Ms. @Gwynne_Shotwell, President & COO of @SpaceX, on India's next frontier in connectivity,' Scindia said on social networking site X.He said they delved into opportunities for collaboration in satellite communications to power Digital India 's soaring ambitions and empower every citizen across the country.'…satellite technologies are not just relevant, they're transformative. Ms. Shotwell appreciated the licence granted to @Starlink, calling it a great start to the journey,' Scindia said.Starlink is the satcom brand of Elon Musk-owned SpaceX.Earlier this month, Starlink became the latest entrant in the country's nascent but growing satcom market. The US major has become the third player to get a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) permit, needed to offer commercial broadband-from-space services. Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and the Reliance Jio-SES satcom joint venture are the first two.The US company now also needs to get approval from space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to launch services. With the company having provided all the details needed for clearance, the approval is expected shortly.The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to issue trial spectrum to the company in the coming days. Once the spectrum is allocated, Starlink must demonstrate all compliances, including those related to security conditions, to the government.US firm Amazon Kuiper is the only other company currently awaiting approval for a satcom permit. The Jeff Bezos-owned company has written to DoT seeking expedited approval.
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