Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk on Friday said Starlink would help India's most underserved communities, particularly in rural areas, reviving his push for satellite connectivity in the country even as his company presses regulators for approval of a next-generation network.
Responding on X to a post by user DogeDesigner, who argued that "India needs @Starlink," Musk wrote that the satellite service "would help the least served in India, especially in rural areas."
Starlink would help the least served in India, especially in rural areas https://t.co/ffCvpL61WQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 21, 2026
The original post citing figures from May 2026 claimed that thousands of India's listed villages still lacked 4G coverage, while rural internet subscription density lagged significantly behind urban India despite the country crossing a billion internet subscriptions.
It also referenced the BharatNet fibre rollout, arguing that despite hundreds of thousands of route-kilometres laid, a large share of gram panchayats still lacked operational points of presence, and called on the government to expedite clearances, spectrum allocation and a commercial launch for Starlink.
Musk's comments come days after Starlink reapplied to India's space regulator, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), seeking approval for its Gen 2 satellite constellation.
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The fresh application reportedly seeks authorisation for nearly 30,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites operating at altitudes between 340 and 615 km, and includes direct-to-device connectivity features that would allow compatible smartphones to connect to satellites without relying on conventional towers.
IN-SPACe had previously rejected an earlier Gen 2 application from the company, citing non-conformity of certain features and spectrum bands, while granting approval only to Starlink's Gen 1 constellation of 4,408 satellites in July 2025.
Starlink, along with rivals Eutelsat OneWeb and the Reliance Jio-SES joint venture, is yet to commence commercial satellite operations in India pending security clearances and spectrum pricing norms.
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