Musk says ‘oligarchs’ have blocked Starlink in India
Elon Musk has claimed that oligarchs in India are blocking the launch of Starlink, the satellite internet service, to maintain their monopoly over the country's population. In a statement on X, Musk criticized these oligarchs without naming them. This comes a month after Starlink renewed its application for permission to launch the Gen 2 satellite constellation in India.
The application seeks approval for a constellation of nearly 30,000 satellites operating in low Earth orbit. Starlink's Gen 1 constellation, consisting of 4,408 satellites, was approved by the Indian regulator IN-SPACe in July 2025. However, the application for the larger Gen 2 constellation was initially rejected due to non-conformity of certain features and spectrum bands.
The regulatory framework for satellite communications in India, including the allocation of spectrum and the introduction of Direct-to-Device (D2D) services, is a key factor in Starlink's launch.
Written by urgent.news from The Economic Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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