Indian approval for Starlink
July 10, 2025
By Chris Forrester
Starlink can start operating over India. Elon Musk’s Starlink has been given approval by India agency IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) to start services.
In June, Starlink was provided with a licence by the government to launch GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite) services, VSAT Services and ISP Category-A under unified licence. The IN-SPACe approval was the final link in the chain for Starlink.
Starlink has been working to achieve a licence since 2022 when it had a reported 5000 subscribers who had ‘informally’ obtained reception equipment. The approval was granted to Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited (SSCPL), a New Delhi-based entity.
The approval was dated July 8th and the licence is valid until July 7th 2030 and covers Starlink’s Generation 1 satellites.
With this authorisation, SSCPL now has a regulatory foothold to proceed with service deployment plans, although it will still need to secure spectrum allocation and other clearances from the Department of Telecommunications and other bodies.
Starlink, however, will not be alone. Other operators, notably Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s joint venture with SES and the Globalstar/Apple SMS service are all eyeing the potential from India.
A report by The Economic Times claims that Starlink will initially price its service at about 840 Rupees per month (below €9) as it attacks the world’s second-largest telecom market. Starlink is targeting up to 10 million subscribers over time from India. But there will also be a fee for the router and dish equipment.
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