Elon Musk says Starlink can help underserved rural India

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has pitched Starlink's satellite internet services as a way to connect underserved and rural parts of India. His comments came amid reports that Starlink has made a fresh application to offer satellite communication services in the country

Washington: SpaceX founder Elon Musk has pitched Starlink’s satellite internet services as a way to connect underserved parts of India, particularly rural areas.

“Starlink would help the least served in India, especially in rural areas,” Musk said in a social media post on Wednesday local time.

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He was responding to a post by X account DogeDesigner, which also pushed for Starlink Services in India to connect remote villages.

“11,256 of India’s listed villages still had no 4G coverage as of May 2026,” DogeDesigner said.

“India had 1.093 billion internet subscriptions in March 2026, but only 440.87 million were rural. Rural subscription density was 48.31 per 100 people, compared with 126.80 in urban India,” it said.

Musk’s comments came amid reports that Starlink has made a fresh application to offer satellite communication services in India.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre had earlier rejected Starlink’s application for its Gen 2 satellite network, saying some of its features and the radio frequencies it planned to use did not meet Indian requirements.

The Gen 2 system includes direct-to-device connectivity capabilities.

Starlink, operated by Musk’s SpaceX, provides internet connectivity through a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites and has been seeking regulatory approvals to launch its services in India.