Elon Musk is ready to seek a licence from the Telecom Department in India to launch Starlink Internet Services in the country.
Starlink, the world’s largest and also the first low-Earth orbit satellite constellation operated by SpaceX, is ready to seek permission to launch satellite internet services in India. The company will seek statutory approval from the government for landing rights and market access.
If granted permission by the government, entrepreneur-billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX would be the third company in the country seeking permission for Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite, following One Web and Reliance Jio.
What is Starlink?
A satellite constellation system that aims to deliver global internet coverage is best suitable for remote areas where connectivity is non-existent or completely unreliable.
Starlink uses thousands of small satellites with a small geostationary orbit instead of one big satellite. In July 2022, in the 33rd Starlink launch of 2022, SpaceX launched 53 satellites. In all, Starlink has launched almost 3,000 satellites into low Earth orbit.
How does Starlink function?
Instead of cable technology like fibre optics that is usually used to transmit data, Elon Musk opted for a system that makes use of radio signals through the vacuum of space.
With the help of a portable receiver, it is set up on the ground so that it can gain access to high-speed internet. Starlink promises a latency of between 20 and 40 milliseconds, and the internet speed varies between 50 Mbps and 150 Mbps.
Where is Starlink available?
Currently, it provides services to 36 countries. Countries like Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are marked as “Coming Soon”. Due to the war, Starlink services were suspended in Ukraine.
With the Indian government launching 5G services in 8 major cities across the country, if Starlink is launched, internet connectivity quality can improve immensely in the country.
(Contributions from multiple media sources.)
