India’s space regulator INSPACe has granted a licence to Elon Musk-run Starlink to offer space-based internet services in the country.

According to a PTI report from New Delhi yesterday, the Indian National Space Authorisation and Promotion Centre (INSPACe) has granted authorisation to Starlink Satellite Communications to enable the provisioning of Starlink Gen1 Constellation capacity over India, the space sector regulator said on its website.

The authorisation is valid for a five-year period. Starlink had been eyeing the Indian market since 2022 for launching commercial operations.

A Reuters report yesterday added that Starlink would be the third company to receive India’s nod to enter the space, with India previously approving applications by Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio to provide services in the country.

Starlink will now need to secure spectrum from the government, set up ground infrastructure, and also demonstrate through testing and trials that it meets the security rules it has signed up for.

Musk and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio clashed for months over how India should grant spectrum for satellite services. India’s government sided with Musk that spectrum should be assigned and not auctioned.

Interestingly, Starlink also has business pacts, signed earlier this year, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. On his last visit to the US earlier in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an Indian delegation of officials had also met Musk.