June 6, 2025 20:48 IST Follow Us OpenAI movie ‘Artificial’ on Sam Altman’s life in works, viewers to get insight in 2023 controversy Having crossed this regulatory hurdle, Starlink now needs to secure the next critical approval, from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-SPACe). The space regulator’s go-ahead is mandatory before Starlink can begin trial services and receive a provisional spectrum allocation. This interim allocation would allow the company to test operations and demonstrate compliance with the country’s national security and technical standards. Starlink’s India launch has been years in the making. The company had been awaiting the GMPCS licence for over three years and has already submitted detailed plans to the government. These include establishing three ground gateways and a local command-and-control centre, requirements necessary to ensure operational transparency and national security compliance. It also plans to set up a Network Operations Centre (NOC) to manage the services locally. According to a senior official, commercial services could still be at least nine months away, with Starlink having to complete infrastructure build-out and operational readiness before launch. “They will still need to complete several procedural steps, including setting up gateways and lawful interception systems,” the official said. Further, the final guidelines relating to spectrum allocation still needs to be firmed up. Though, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has submitted its long-awaited recommendations on satellite spectrum pricing through the administrative pricing mechanism, the same needs to be accepted by the DoT. The matter then needs the approval of the Union Cabinet. ALSO READ