India Issues Letter of Intent to Elon Musk’s Starlink for Satellite Internet Services

In a major development in India’s push to expand its digital infrastructure, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to Starlink, the satellite internet division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to provide satellite communication services in the country, according to a PTI report on Wednesday.

This move marks a significant step forward for Starlink, which is now poised to officially enter the Indian market after months of regulatory discussions. According to the report, the company will join Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications, both of which have already secured licences from the government to offer satellite-based internet services.

What is Starlink?

Starlink is a satellite broadband service developed by SpaceX, the aerospace firm founded in 2002 by billionaire entrepreneur and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. Unlike traditional satellite communication systems that depend on geostationary satellites orbiting 35,786 km above the Earth, Starlink relies on a constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites situated about 550 km above the surface, reports suggest.

This LEO network, currently comprising around 7,000 satellites, is expected to expand to more than 40,000, making it the world’s largest of its kind, CNBC reported. The proximity of these satellites allows Starlink to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband internet suitable for bandwidth-intensive activities such as video streaming, online gaming, and video conferencing, even in remote or underserved regions.