India's Three Satcom Licensees All Wait on Home Ministry Clearance
Hardware / news
India's Three Satcom Licensees All Wait on Home Ministry Clearance
Starlink, Jio Satellite Communications and Eutelsat OneWeb hold licences but no spectrum, and the government says the one remaining gate applies to all three equally.
None of India's three licensed satellite broadband operators has launched a service, and none has spectrum, after a public row that began when Elon Musk said Starlink was being blocked. The Ministry of Communications said all three are undergoing security assessments and are at "broadly the same regulatory stage," as Devdiscourse reported on Oct. 9.
Musk posted on X on the night of Oct. 7 that Starlink was "being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people," Inc42 reported. He did not name anyone in that post. The ministry called the suggestion that its framework is unfair or discriminatory "baseless and misconceived."
Where each operator stands
Inc42's Oct. 18 explainer lays out the three timelines. Starlink was the last of the three to be licensed, in June 2025.
| Operator | GMPCS licence | IN-SPACe authorisation | Security demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eutelsat OneWeb (Bharti-backed) | Aug. 2021 | Nov. 2023 | Jan. 2025 |
| Jio Satellite Communications (Reliance) | Mar. 2022 | Not stated | Mar. 20, 2025 |
| Starlink (SpaceX) | June 2025 | July 2025 | Early 2026 |
GMPCS is the licence for satellite mobile services over non-geostationary constellations; IN-SPACe is the space regulator that authorises the satellites. OneWeb is first in every column. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said OneWeb applied five years ago and wants approval "at least a few days before him," meaning Musk, Inc42 reports. The ministry's line puts all three level.
The gate that is left
Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State for Communications, said the Department of Telecommunications has issued licences and has no objection to providing provisional spectrum. The remaining step is national security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs, per Devdiscourse. "It is not about one satellite company," he said.
Inc42 says spectrum assignment follows once an operator clears the security assessment. It reports no pricing framework in that piece, and Devdiscourse says operators must await one before they can seek spectrum.
Reliance responded on Oct. 16. "At Reliance, we have never feared competition," it said, adding that Jio's own satellite services are still awaiting clearances, per Inc42. Musk had singled out Mukesh Ambani by then, sarcastically calling him the "real boss of India."
What the filings show about Jio
Jio Satellite Communications, incorporated in October 2021, reported revenue of ₹34.3 crore in FY26, up from ₹10.7 crore in FY25 and nil in FY24, Inc42 says. It booked ₹10.5 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Inc42 notes those figures do not represent a launched retail service.
- FY240 ₹ crore
- FY2510.7 ₹ crore
- FY2634.3 ₹ crore
Source: Inc42, Oct. 18, 2026
Starlink's side is infrastructure. Its vice president Lauren Dreyer has said the company set up 20 gateway sites in India, Inc42 reported on Oct. 16. For the hardware that shapes demand elsewhere, see our reporting on Starlink site fires in Bulgaria and Poland and on Starship Flight 14 and Starlink V3.
The fact to watch is the first spectrum assignment to any of the three. The ministry has not said which operator clears first, or when, and the Home Ministry has not published a timetable in any of the reports above.
Sources
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