India launches a rival constellation
Published 11 October 2026
On October 26, the Department of Telecommunications issued guidelines for establishing satellite-based communications networks. They described several licensing routes, including Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite, commercial and captive VSAT services, in-flight and maritime connectivity, and national long-distance services. Other Unified Licence authorizations could also use satellite connectivity within their permitted scope. The list mattered because satellite communication was not treated as one undifferentiated activity. A network serving a closed group, a mobile satellite service and a link used for backhaul could operate under different permissions. The guidelines organized those routes and the approvals needed to establish the supporting network. They made the terrestrial use of the space link part of the licensing structure. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
For GMPCS, the guidelines required a gateway in India. A separate Indian gateway switch was to be established for each satellite system used. Calls originating or terminating from mobile terminals in India had to pass through that Indian switch rather than a gateway outside the country. The issue was therefore the path taken by traffic, not merely whether a satellite could illuminate Indian territory. A communications network crossing borders could still be required to route domestic traffic through facilities under domestic rules. The gateway provided a location where those obligations could attach. Its position on the ground made it an important part of the regulatory system as well as of the engineering system. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
The GMPCS letter of intent was subject to security clearance by an inter-ministerial committee. Licensees also had to provide adequate monitoring facilities at the Indian gateway and disclose contracts with parents, associates and satellite-system owners or operators before licensing and security clearance. The disclosures included relevant permissions issued by governments in the countries where those organizations were registered or operated. The requirements reflected the international structure of a satellite service. A local entity could depend on a foreign parent and an overseas space system, so the regulator sought information about those relationships. The licence was not simply a formality associated with a dish. It concerned the service, the traffic path and the contractual network behind it. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
The guidelines gave the closed-user-group category a precise boundary. Producers could connect to their traders or agents, service providers to their agents, and businesses making the same category of goods or supplying the same category of services could form a group. A bank was one example. The ultimate consumer of a product or service was expressly excluded. Holding companies and subsidiaries could also form a group, but only for legitimate internal business communications. The rule described a network organized around an existing business relationship rather than an unrestricted pool of retail customers. That boundary affected the market a licensee could serve. The same satellite capacity might carry transactions between a company's offices without authorizing the operator to sell a general consumer connection to everyone living near those offices. The customer relationship was part of the permission, not merely a marketing choice made after the network existed. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
Closed-group permission nevertheless had routes into wider connectivity. The commercial VSAT category could provide backhaul for cellular operators and Wi-Fi hotspots, and it could aggregate traffic from machine-to-machine or internet-of-things devices belonging to the group. It could also supply backhaul to appropriately licensed or registered machine-to-machine service providers. The guidelines prohibited public switched telephone or public land mobile network connectivity except for the specified backhaul uses. This combination mattered to how a satellite connection reached an ordinary person. A customer could use a terrestrial access service whose traffic travelled over a satellite link elsewhere in the chain, without buying a direct satellite subscription. The licensing distinction was between carrying that supporting traffic and becoming the public access provider. It left room for satellite capacity to improve another operator's reach while preserving the legal boundaries of the closed-group business. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
The in-flight and maritime route used partnerships differently. A qualifying telecom licensee needed an access-service or national-category internet licence alongside a national long-distance or commercial VSAT licence, with an appropriate gateway where satellite connectivity was used. Airlines, shipping companies and other companies could also seek authorization through commercial agreements with the specified telecom partners. The authorization covered ships within Indian territorial waters and aircraft within or above India or its territorial waters. It could also support service in exclusive economic zones and on the high seas, in accordance with the rights granted to the state under international law. Foreign airlines applying through the company route needed permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to enter Indian airspace. Eligible shipping companies included foreign companies whose vessels called at Indian ports or crossed Indian territorial waters, with the proposed communications intended for routine non-distress or commercial purposes. Data could be supplied through Wi-Fi. The operator serving the passenger therefore did not necessarily own every part of the communications chain. An aircraft cabin or ship could be the place where the customer connected, while an authorized partner supplied the network link and domestic gateway. The rules addressed an operating setting already familiar with movement across jurisdictions. They were a practical example of separating a customer-facing service from the licensed network supporting it, with a commercial agreement connecting the two. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
The partnership model did not leave security responsibility undefined. For voice and data, the airline, shipping or other eligible company had to agree with an access-service licensee and a commercial VSAT or national long-distance provider, with a gateway in the relevant service area where satellite connectivity was involved. The applicant also had to arrange lawful interception and monitoring. To reach the centralized monitoring system, the service provider would fund the necessary hardware and bandwidth, or dark fibre to a designated point, either directly or through its partner. That requirement attached an operational cost to the customer-facing arrangement. Buying network service from another company did not remove the applicant's obligation to provide the monitoring connection. A commercial agreement could allocate work between partners, but the guideline identified the capability that had to exist and the provider responsible for arranging it. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s)
The captive category had also changed from the older licensing account. By the 2022 guidelines, an organization could establish more than one closed group for its own use. The purpose remained internal communication rather than a commercial service sold to outside customers. Machine-to-machine traffic could be aggregated so long as the group character was preserved, and terminals on moving platforms were allowed subject to the relevant technical conditions. The number of groups and the nature of the customer were therefore separate questions. Allowing several internal groups did not turn the organization into a public provider. The national long-distance category supplied another route: it could carry traffic across service areas, supply leased circuits and virtual private networks, and sell bandwidth to other telecom licensees. An operator considering satellite capacity had to identify which of these activities it intended to perform before choosing the authorization that covered it. dot.gov.in, Guidelines for establishing satellite-based communication network(s) trai.gov.in, TRAI consultation paper, April 2026
On March 26, 2023, India's LVM3 launched thirty-six OneWeb satellites from Sriharikota. ISRO reported that the satellites reached their intended circular orbit at four hundred and fifty kilometres, with an inclination of 87.4 degrees. The vehicle lifted off at 09:00:20 IST carrying a total payload of 5,805 kilograms. Satellite injection began from the twentieth minute after the rocket achieved the required conditions. The launcher oriented itself in different directions and released the spacecraft with defined time gaps to avoid collisions. The flight was LVM3's sixth consecutive success, according to ISRO. An Indian launch vehicle was now helping deploy a constellation whose commercial ownership connected an Indian telecom group with a foreign government. isro.gov.in, LVM3-M3 / OneWeb India-2 Mission gov.uk, UK government to acquire cutting-edge satellite network - GOV.UK, 2020-07-03
The mission's precision was part of the service's physical foundation. Thirty-six satellites sharing one launch had to be released into the intended orbit without colliding. Their successful placement was a deployment result, separate from any decision about offering OneWeb service to Indian customers. That division of evidence matters because a country can supply launch capability to an international constellation while regulating its domestic communications operations through another process. Participation in the space network can begin before the permissions and infrastructure for local service are complete. isro.gov.in, LVM3-M3 / OneWeb India-2 Mission