Washington

SpaceXfounder 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 Thursday local time.

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. The post said BharatNet had laid more than 850,000 route-km of fibre and made around 221,000 Gram Panchayats service-ready. However, only 80,472 Gram Panchayat Points of Presence were reported operational as of June 2026. It further stated that satellite connectivity could help bridge gaps in remote villages, mountainous regions, islands and areas affected by disasters, where conventional telecom infrastructure faces challenges related to terrain, commercial viability and infrastructure constraints. The post also called for the completion of regulatory clearances, spectrum allocation and approval for Starlink's commercial launch in India. Earlier in August, a government official said that Elon Musk's X will have to follow the law when it comes to the social media platform's new rule that makes content takedown requests by any public government.