New Delhi halted further approvals after questions surfaced about Starlink’s prior deployment in Iran. The pause raises doubts about SpaceX’s regulatory path.
SpaceX’s plans to expand Starlink access in the Indian market may face concerns from the Indian government regarding compliance with national law.
The company received permission to begin operations in India in 2025 after a lengthy lobbying campaign before the government of New Delhi. While steps to deploy the service are advancing, Bloomberg reports that Indian regulators paused further actions after SpaceX provided Starlink in Iran without a legal permit to operate there.
Regulatory risks and licensing constraints
“Starlink remains in active and productive negotiations with the Indian government, unlike the false reports based on unverified claims from anonymous sources.”
– Lauren Drayer
Delays in rolling out the service in India could pose a hurdle for SpaceX’s IPO, as financial disclosures indicate a slowdown in Starlink’s customer growth.
The cost of the Starlink network depends on the number of countries where the service is available; there are recorded costs to build out the global infrastructure, and profitability depends on how many subscribers choose the service.
Access to the market is granted separately for each country, and many governments seek to protect national telecommunications companies through joint ventures or by directly controlling who can access the service and how exactly it will be regulated.
India is imposing requirements for local data storage and network security, which SpaceX is trying to comply with. However, anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the government is concerned about whether it will be able to directly control Starlink after unauthorized use in Iran.
Control over the network has previously raised concerns: Ukrainian forces using Starlink to fight the Russian invasion voiced discontent due to outages from the service in 2022, when Musk was worried about their progress. Starlink’s negotiations with the Taiwanese government have not progressed due to Musk’s prior statements that Taiwan is part of China, and the company’s explicit refusal to work with local partners there.
Outlook and conclusions
Thus, the Indian government continues to consider regulatory mechanisms to monitor Starlink, which could affect the pace of rollout in India and SpaceX’s future IPO.
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