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Starlink Delayed in India Over Domestic Infrastructure Dispute
M
Moneycontrol•14-10-2026, 19:32
Starlink Delayed in India Over Domestic Infrastructure Dispute
- •Starlink has not received clearance to launch in India because it is unwilling to comply with regulations requiring domestic infrastructure.
- •A senior government official stated that Starlink must establish local base stations and route Indian user traffic through domestic gateways.
- •Elon Musk previously accused Indian business interests of obstructing Starlink to protect monopolies, a claim the government rejected as baseless.
- •India's security requirements mandate local data centres, DNS resolution, and lawful interception facilities within the country.
- •Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal noted that his satellite broadband business, OneWeb, is also awaiting final approvals.
Key Questions Answered
Satellite operators like Starlink must establish local base stations and ground gateways within India, route all user traffic through domestic facilities, ensure local core network control and DNS resolution, and set up lawful interception and monitoring systems before launching commercial services.
While companies like Starlink, OneWeb, and Jio-SES have received their licenses, they are awaiting final security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs and other security agencies, which is a standard part of India's regulatory approval process.
Yes, Starlink has built 20 gateway sites comprising hundreds of antennas in India and designed its operations to keep Indian user data localized in compliance with domestic security regulations.
