Eutelsat owned satellite constellation OneWeb has received all the “necessary authorisations” to start services over India. OneWeb India, which is backed by Bharti Airtel, is the first satellite operation to be granted authorisation. However, OneWeb is still waiting for its spectrum to be allocated.
IN-SPACe is the government agency responsible for regulating space activities and granting authorisation for conducting the space activities in the country issued its approval. The IN-SPACe move means Eutelsat OneWeb can launch commercial connectivity services as soon as spectrum allocation is granted by the government.
Bharti Group chairman and co-chair of the board of directors of Eutelsat Group, Sunil Bharti Mittal, commented: “We are pleased to note the Indian space regulator’s green light to launch Eutelsat OneWeb’s commercial satellite broadband services in India. This will be a critical step forward to meet India’s ambition of providing internet connectivity for all. Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives the final spectrum authorization to launch commercial services.”
Still waiting for similar approvals are SpaceX’s Starlink, the Jio/SES service and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
