Elon Musk’s SpaceX to team up with local firms to make satellite gears in India
14 July, 2021 | Rakshanda Afrin
Elon Musk-backed company Space X’s Starlink broadband is slated to be available to users in 2022. The DoT had called a meeting with global satellite companies to discuss a roadmap for locally produ...
In a major development for Indian space sector, Elon Musk’s Space X will partner with local firms to locally manufacture satellite gear and equipment including antenna systems and user terminal devices in India. Elon Musk-backed company Space X’s Starlink broadband is slated to be available to users in 2022.
In a recently held meeting with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) an unnamed SpaceX executive said that the company is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices.
The DoT had called a meeting with global satellite companies to discuss a roadmap for locally producing satellite communications gear and ways to create an enabling regulatory regime for global low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operators to be established in India. Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal had said that there is no case for auctioning of satellite spectrum, and doing so will not be in tune with global norms.
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It is to be noted that satellite companies further discouraged the Indian government from auctioning mmWave satellite spectrum in the 28 GHz band for 5G mobile services, asserting that it would impact their data download speeds and geographical reach in India.