A five-percent proposal and a constellation on paper

Published 11 October 2026

On September 8, Moneycontrol reported that the Digital Communications Commission had approved a five-percent revenue-based spectrum proposal, with a lower effective rate for operators serving specified rural or remote areas. Its sources said DoT would take the proposal to the Cabinet for final approval. It showed reported progress toward a decision after the earlier disagreement with TRAI. The article also said security demonstrations and other regulatory requirements still stood between licence holders and commercial launch. A decision on pricing, even if completed, would not substitute for those conditions. moneycontrol.com, Satcom spectrum: DCC clears Trai recommendations; Starlink, OneWeb still await..., 2026-09-08

Moneycontrol also reported a five-year assignment period with an option for a two-year extension and said Starlink had applied to IN-SPACe for authorization of its next-generation constellation. The application was described as covering nearly thirty thousand low Earth orbit satellites, including direct-to-device capability. That was a reported request for authorization, not a count deployed for Indian use. It reflected the fact that satellite systems could change while an entry process was still under way. Permission for one constellation or configuration did not necessarily answer every question about another generation. The company could seek approval for future capability while the existing commercial launch remained conditional on security and spectrum requirements. moneycontrol.com, Satcom spectrum: DCC clears Trai recommendations; Starlink, OneWeb still await..., 2026-09-08

ThePrint's September 10 account added a proposed six-hundred-and-fifty-kilometre orbit for Jio's sixteen-hundred satellites. An IN-SPACe official said technical clearance had been given but the final constellation plan had not yet arrived. The article described an initial test flight around 2027, service around 2028, several hundred satellites by 2030 and full coverage by 2035. These were reported planning dates, not a binding company rollout promise or completed events. The long sequence made the scale of the project visible. A technical nod was only an early milestone in a programme requiring successive deployment and operations. India's sovereign ambition was a plan with stages, while Starlink's global network already operated in other markets. theprint.in, Reliance Jio to place 1,600 satellites in 650-km orbit, higher than Elon Musk's Starlink, 2026-09-10