Elon Musk says Starlink to serve rural India: Why its launch faces delays

Here’s why Starlink’s formal launch is facing delays, how satcom services work, and what statutory guidelines govern these services.

Why the delay in Starlink’s India launch

Last July, Starlink had received what industry executives said was the last regulatory approval needed to launch the service in India from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) granted authorisation to the satcom company for its satellite constellation. Before that, the company had received an operator licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), three years after first applying for one.

The Starlink Gen1 Constellation is a global constellation with 4,408 satellites orbiting earth in altitude varying between 540-570 km, capable of providing around 600 Gbps throughput over India.

Despite the regulatory clearance, it is understood the government is yet to green-light formal launch of these services over security concerns. The concern particularly stems from anxieties around foreign satcom operators potentially bypassing Indian gateways to offer their services, an event when the government might lose control over the service.

In satellite communication, Indian gateways refer to Satellite Earth Station Gateways physically located within Indian territory that interface between space-based satellite constellations and domestic terrestrial telecom networks. All traffic originating or terminating in India must process entirely through these local ground facilities.

How satcom services work

Satellite communication services rely on an array of satellites in orbit to offer connectivity to homes and businesses on the ground. They are an alternative to ground-based communication, called terrestrial networks, such as cable, fibre, or digital subscriber line, and they don’t require wires to transmit data. Starlink operates the world’s largest satellite constellation, with around 7,000 satellites in orbit.

For end-users, satellite-based communication and broadband services offer benefits on two key points: wider coverage, and a more resilient network. Even though the latency of satcom services can at times be higher than terrestrial broadband networks, they can cover vast swathes of areas with very little physical equipment needing to be installed.

DoT guidelines for satcom companies

Last May, the DoT had released guidelines for satellite communication companies. The norms call for companies to set up local manufacturing, data localisation, use domestic navigation systems, implement a blocking mechanism, and cooperate with law enforcement agencies.

According to the guidelines, satcom companies will have to share with the government a year-wise phased manufacturing plan aiming at indigenisation to a level of at least 20% of their ground segment of the satellite network that is established at the end of five years after launching commercial operations.

The companies should also ensure provisioning of NavIC-based positioning systems in their user terminals on “best effort basis,” along with a transition plan to implement NavIC in a time-bound manner by 2029. NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation, is India’s regional satellite navigation system, similar to GPS, which is a global system developed by the US.

Companies will have to provide real-time monitoring to ensure that no user traffic originating from, or destined for India is being routed through any gateway outside Indian territory. They will also have to submit an undertaking that they will not copy and decrypt Indian telecom data outside India.

Operators would need to implement service restrictions to “any individual, group of subscribers or certain geographical areas” during “hostilities”, the guidelines said. These companies will have to seek separate clearance (“from security angle”) for voice service and data service. Satcom operators will also have to ensure that their data centres are based within the geographical boundary of India and shall make provision to provide Domain Name System resolution within its territory.