Starlink, which is a part of the SpaceX company led by Elon Musk, has registered its business in India as the company is preparing to apply for licenses from the local government for the internet service business.

Sanjay Bhargava, the country director for Starlink in India said: “SpaceX now has a 100 percent owned subsidiary in India. The name is SSCPL – Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited and the incorporation date is Nov 1, 2021.”

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He also confirmed that the company will now start applying for licenses to start its broadband services as it applies for regulatory approval. It intends to start its satellite-based broadband services next year and had taken orders from customers earlier this year.

Initially, the company will be focusing on offering its services in ten rural Lok Sabha constituencies. The company claims the service is “ideally suited” in areas where connectivity is “unreliable or completely unavailable”.

Starlink is planning to offer 200,000 active terminals in over 160,000 districts by December 2022. It remains to be seen if the company is able to achieve that because the track record paints a different picture. As of August this year, the company had shipped 100,000 user terminals in 14 countries.

Sanjay Bhargava, a former PayPal executive, was hired to lead the India division of Starlink in October this year. Apart from him, the company has hired several key executives in India in recent months, including Parnil Urdhwareshe, who was previously overseeing AMD’s policy efforts in India.

For those who are unaware, Starlink is launching small satellites to build a low-Earth orbiting network to provide low-latency broadband internet services. It is aiming to serve rural communities in India and is working with Niti Aayog, an Indian think tank, to identify 12 districts in the country for the company’s initial deployment.

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