New Delhi, October 7, 2026: Starlink has built its India operations to comply with the country’s security and regulatory requirements and is ready to begin services once it receives the necessary clearances, a senior SpaceX executive said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the 10th India Mobile Congress in Delhi, Starlink Business Operations Vice-President Lauren Dreyer said the company had spent the past five years working with Indian regulators, industry representatives and operators to understand the country’s requirements and prepare its operations. “We are ready to serve in India, once India is ready,” she said.
India-Specific Security Setup
Dreyer said Starlink had designed its operations specifically for India, keeping the country’s security requirements and other regulations in mind. The company has established controls at every layer and plans to keep Indian users’ data within the country.
Ground infrastructure is also in place, including 20 gateway sites comprising hundreds of antennas, with operations ready to begin. The scale of this groundwork indicates that Starlink is preparing for a quick rollout once the remaining government approvals arrive, even as security requirements continue to determine the launch timeline.
Security Clearance Holds The Key
During the Winter Session of Parliament last year, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said satellite internet services would require security clearances from enforcement agencies. Companies had been provided sample spectrum to demonstrate compliance with security requirements and would be allowed to launch services once they met the norms, including the requirement to host international gateways within India, Hindustan Times reports.
Starlink, Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications Ltd, a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, have already secured government licences. However, Starlink is still awaiting the clearances needed to begin commercial services, underlining that obtaining a licence alone does not complete the regulatory process.
Starlink Teams Up With Airtel, Jio
“Hopefully the next time I address the India Mobile Congress, the Indian government’s good work will have been completed and Starlink will be authorised,” Dreyer said.
She said Starlink had signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Airtel and Jio and was working closely with state governments to understand how it could best serve communities in India. These partnerships could prove important as the company looks to address connectivity gaps across the country.
Last-Mile Connectivity In Focus
Describing India as a “digital economy growing rapidly”, Dreyer said last-mile connectivity remained one of the most difficult challenges. “With Starlink, people can connect within minutes, and not years,” she said.
Starlink currently has 11,000 satellites in orbit and its services are available in more than 170 countries. Dreyer said its low-Earth orbit satellite network could provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity in places traditional infrastructure had been unable to reach, supporting services such as streaming, video calls and online gaming.
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Pricing Yet To Be Announced
Questions over Starlink’s India pricing emerged in December last year when an India webpage briefly displayed a monthly price of Rs 8,600 and a one-time hardware fee of Rs 34,000 for residential users. The page also mentioned unlimited data and 99.9 per cent uptime.
Dreyer later clarified on X that the India website was “not live” and pricing had “not yet been announced”. She said the figures appeared because of a configuration glitch and Starlink was still awaiting final government approvals before accepting orders or officially launching services in India.
With infrastructure already installed and partnerships in place, Starlink appears operationally prepared for India. The final step, however, remains regulatory clearance, meaning the timing of its commercial debut will depend on when the government is satisfied that all security requirements have been met.
