Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries is reportedly examining a multi-billion dollar entry into low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications through Jio Platforms, India’s Economic Times has reported, citing people with knowledge of internal discussions.

The plan includes building satellites, payloads, launch vehicles, and user terminals, while Reliance simultaneously holds talks with Indian government bodies over securing orbital slots and weighs acquisitions of existing satellite operators to compress timelines. The newspaper did not disclose a specific investment figure. The report is unconfirmed.

Reliance Jio already has a satellite joint-venture with SES of Luxembourg. Set up in 2022 Reliance holds 51 per cent of the joint-venture with SES holding 49 per cent. The joint-venture trades as Orbit Connect India.

However, Jio/Orbit have yet to start services. Along with Eutelsat’s OneWeb and SpaceX’s Starlink, they are all working their way through the highly-bureaucratic security and licensing demands of India’s Dept. of Telecommunications.

Reliance is in active discussions with Indian government bodies about orbital slot strategy, noted the report.

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Tags: india, LEO, Reliance, SES