At a recent meeting, the founding of a Tesla factory in India was the main topic of discussion between Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX’s chief executive, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Elon Musk, who referred to himself as a “fan” of the Prime Minister, made clear his ambition to provide SpaceX’s Starlink service to India, something that has been in the works for a while. He conveyed his plans to bring Starlink to India shortly after the meeting with Modi during a media interaction.
Elon Musk expressed his enthusiasm for coming to India shortly and noted his desire to introduce the Starlink Internet to the Indian people. He suggested it could be highly beneficial for villages in more rural regions.
According to Musk, the deployment of Starlink Technology will be a great help to those living in rural or remote places that have either no or costly and bad internet connection.
What is Starlink?
Musk’s SpaceX-owned Starlink is a satellite network created to deliver high-speed internet to the most remote areas. It consists of over 1000 spacecraft orbiting the planet at 550km from the surface, 60 times closer than regular satellites. This proximity offers more rapid signals, making latency (the time taken to transfer data from one point to the next) much shorter and providing faster speeds, and better video quality for gaming and video calls.
Starlink is the perfect solution for areas of the world that have had difficulties with access to the internet. Its ability to bypass traditional ground infrastructure allows it to offer high-speed broadband in places that were formerly unreliable or had no access at all. This is according to the Starlink website.
How does Starlink work?
To access the Starlink network, customers need to purchase a kit that includes a user terminal. This terminal is a small dish that is placed on the ground and communicates with the satellites moving around in the Low Earth Orbit. These satellites direct the data to a ground station which, in turn, sends the information to the internet.
In other words, the radio waves from the Starlink satellites are received by a user terminal which transforms them into digital data. This data is then relayed to a ground station, which then transmits it to the internet
Starlink now offers a portability feature that permits its subscribers to move their dish around in their home continent where internet access is possible at an additional cost per month. This new service was introduced in the previous year.
What impact will Starlink have on India’s internet connectivity?
Starlink has the ability to significantly improve India’s digital infrastructure. With a population of over 1.4 billion people, India has the problem of connecting remote and rural areas where traditional internet infrastructure development is difficult and expensive. Starlink’s constellation of thousands of LEO satellites seeks to offer these locations with reliable, low-latency internet service.
The launch of Starlink in India is expected to have a wide-ranging impact. It has the potential to help bridge the country’s digital divide, improve connection for small and medium-sized businesses, accelerate digital education, and much more.
Why is Starlink still not available in India?
Despite Starlink’s enormous potential in India, the service is currently unavailable in the nation. Regulatory permissions, spectrum allotment, and logistical issues have all contributed to the delay. Last year, the corporation launched its internet services in India, but was forced to shut them down due to government directives. According to the Department of Telecommunication, Starlink Satellite Services had no licence to provide services in India and therefore it was ordered to stop accepting further bookings for the service.
-The writer is a Defence, Aerospace & Political analyst. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
-The author is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
