Following a high-level meeting between SpaceX, the satellite internet company, and the Indian government, the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has publicly stated his eagerness to launch Starlink services in the country, highlighting his commitment to connecting India’s vast population. Musk took to social media to react to the discussions held between Starlink’s Vice President of Business Operations, Lauren Dreyer, and India’s Minister of Communications, Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Responding to a post by Scindia detailing the meeting, Musk wrote, “Looking forward to serving India with @Starlink!”
The meeting was focused on the pivotal role that satellite technology is expected to play in advancing digital inclusion across India, particularly in its rural and most remote regions.
Scindia shared meeting details with SpaceX
In his post following the discussion, Scindia highlighted the government’s focus on leveraging space-based connectivity. “As we work to advance PM @narendramodi ji’s vision of a digitally empowered India, Satellite technology will play a pivotal role in extending connectivity to the most remote parts of the country & strengthening internet access to every citizen in rural and hard-to-reach regions, ensuring that digital inclusion accelerates broader development,” Scindia wrote.
In response to the post, Elon Musk acknowledged the minister’s words by reposting his post and expressed his excitement to serve India with Starlink.
Starlink to bring satellite internet to India
Starlink, which operates a vast constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, has been keen to enter the highly competitive Indian telecommunications market. The satellite internet service is viewed by the government as a crucial technology for providing last-mile access and bridging the digital divide in areas where terrestrial fibre and mobile networks are difficult or expensive to deploy.
Few days ago, the Starlink website started showing subscription price and offers for the Indian market. However, Starlink flagged it as a glitch. Lauren Dreyer said in a post that “The Starlink India website is not live, service pricing for customers in India has not yet been announced, and we are not taking orders from customers in India. There was a config glitch that briefly made dummy test data visible, but those numbers do not reflect what the cost of Starlink service will be in India. The glitch was quickly fixed.”
