SpaceX to Pair With Domestic Manufacturers to Make Satcom Gear in India

SpaceX plans to partner with Indian companies to locally manufacture satcom equipment, as it gears up to launch Starlink next year.

The DoT had called a meeting with global satellite companies to discuss a holistic roadmap to make satcom gear locally. Moreover, DoT had also sought options to allow satcom companies to establish in-country gateways in India.

Officials from satcom players, telcos and the government were present at the meeting. These included officials from OneWeb, Viasat, Hughes, Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, Department of Space, and TRAI.

SpaceX to Make Satcom Gear in India

India's satcom space has started to heat up with the likes of SpaceX, OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper looking to enter the market starting next year. As such, the DoT had called this meeting to start sorting out the policy framework for the same. India's Spacecom policy is also in the pipeline, and global satcom players are hoping for an enabling policy.

This was also SpaceX’s first official comments on its India plans in the satcom space. Matt Botwin, Director (market access with the Starlink program), said, "SpaceX is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices". Botwin made these comments during SpaceX’s first official interaction with DoT Secretary Anshu Prakash.

During the meeting, Botwin also said, "SpaceX has been working with the Indian industrial sector for a long time, buying steel and steel-tubing for many of its rockets. It is now committed to manufacturing hardware and satellite components and components of (satellite broadband) networks in India".

Starlink has already been accepting pre-orders in India, for a fully refundable deposit of $99. The company is targeting a launch in 2022 in India according to its website. It has also mentioned that availability will depend on regulatory approvals.

Satcom Players again Oppose Giving mmWave to Telcos

However, the mmWave spectrum still remains a bone of contention between the telcos and satcom players. During the meeting, satellite companies strongly discouraged the government from auctioning mmWave spectrum in the 28 GHz band for 5G. The companies said that such a move would impact their data download speeds and geographical reach in India.

Anil Prakash, DG, SIA-India, said at the meeting, "unlike the mobile use case, by its very nature of usage, satellite spectrum is not dedicated to a single satellite operator, and the world over, it is not auctioned but assigned as per International Telecom Union (ITU) regulations".

Right now, only the satcom players use the coveted 28 GHz spectrum. However, telcos have said that the band is highly efficient for ultra-fast 5G as well. Telcos have repeatedly asked DoT to sell spectrum, or risk 5G becoming unaffordable in India.