After signing a 2025 agreement to distribute and install Starlink kits, Reliance Jio gained practical insight into low-Earth-orbit operations and regulatory hurdles, then in October 2026 proposed its own roughly 1,600-satellite constellation with 23 domestic ground stations so that all data remains inside India and meets national security and localisation rules.

The plan complements Jio’s existing higher-orbit partnership with SES and would serve remote villages and border areas under full Indian control, though launching so many satellites may still require SpaceX rockets given ISRO’s current capacity limits, while spectrum policy remains contested between auction demands and administrative assignment.

The episode illustrates patient strategy in which an Indian operator studied a foreign system, waited for security clearances that delayed Starlink, and advanced a parallel domestic alternative, ensuring that control over how signals reach households stays rooted in Indian soil.

In a Himalayan foothill village, a child waits for a video lesson to load while a shopkeeper hopes an online order will go through. On a far coast, a health worker needs a doctor’s voice in an emergency. For such families, satellite internet decides whether India’s remotest corners get connected, and who holds the keys when they do.

In March 2025, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel both signed agreements with SpaceX. Jio was to stock Starlink kits in its retail outlets and help customers install them, becoming........

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