Indian authorities pushed back against Elon Musk’s claims that unnamed oligarchs were blocking Starlink from launching in the country, stating all three prospective operators remain broadly at the same stage of the regulatory process.

In a post on X, Musk accused “certain oligarchs” of trying to maintain a “monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people”, adding “you can guess who they are…” without naming the parties involved. “This is a crime against the people of India!” he wrote.

In a statement, India’s Ministry of Communications rejected the allegation, explaining its satellite communications framework is “fair and non-discriminatory”. It said assessments are currently underway for all licensed operators in India, with each required to meet security conditions before it can seek spectrum.

“At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage,” the ministry said, calling claims of discriminatory treatment “baseless and misconceived”.

The country’s telecoms sector is dominated by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel. Both operators, alongside Musk’s Starlink, have secured initial approvals for satellite services but are awaiting spectrum assignment and final clearances.

Starlink’s approval process has stretched over four years, with security requirements and spectrum access among the key issues under scrutiny. Musk has previously clashed with Ambani over India’s satellite spectrum allocation, although both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel later struck agreements with the tech mogul to distribute Starlink services in the country.

The US satellite venture’s regulatory wait has also been marred by security concerns. Local media reports stated authorities recovered illegal Starlink equipment in two separate operations in late 2024, including a drug seizure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and an army search in the northeastern state of Manipur.

This week, Musk also disputed any suggestion the equipment was connected to an active Starlink service in India, posting on X that its satellite beams were “turned off over India” and “never on in the first place”.

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Aerospace and defence groups are reportedly pushing back against a SpaceX-backed effort to overhaul wireless spectrum coordination for rocket launches.

Bloomberg reported the proposed changes would replace the third-party frequency-coordination system overseeing how government agencies and commercial entities share key telemetry bands.

The FCC sought public comment on modernising launch spectrum coordination following an August 2026 Presidential Memorandum and a petition filed by the Commercial Space Federation (CSF).

According to filings highlighted by outlet Vertical Aviation International, CSF asked the FCC to replace the existing flight-test frequency coordination process with direct coordination and an automated, near-real-time database across shared telemetry bands.

A coalition representing aerospace and defence organisations, commercial aircraft manufacturers including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and flight-test operators submitted formal comments urging the FCC to proceed cautiously.

In a joint submission, the Aerospace & Defense Industry Spectrum Coalition warned the proposed coordination changes could increase the risk of harmful electromagnetic interference.

The coalition stated these shared frequencies are vital for real-time safety telemetry during prototype aircraft evaluations, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) certification flights, and defence readiness testing.

It also argued the FCC’s expedited comment schedule did not allow sufficient time for comprehensive technical studies to verify non-interference.

The clash leaves the FCC balancing faster rocket launch schedules against the need to protect aerospace and defence users of the same spectrum from harmful interference.

FCC bird approval
SpaceX notched a regulatory win after it secured Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to launch 15,000 next-gen satellites for its direct-to-device (D2D) mobile service, creating a path to compete directly with AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon.

SpaceX filed its application with the FCC in September 2025 ahead of rebranding its D2D satellite offering as Starlink Mobile earlier this year.

Elon Musk-controlled SpaceX is targeting a download speed of 150Mb/s for its D2D service compared to about 4Mb/s on the downlink for the Starlink provisioned offering by T-Mobile.

Instead of relying on a terrestrial network with cell towers, SpaceX plans to pair its satellites with ground-based femtocells to provide 5G mobile coverage, a plan many executives in the industry consider far-fetched.

“With this action, SpaceX’s planned deployments will reshape spectrum-based connectivity by improving competition, allowing more consumers more choices in more places to further the Commission’s goal to connect everyone, everywhere to modern communications services,” the agency stated on 6 October

The FCC also issued SpaceX a waiver to offer its service through satellites without entering into a leasing agreement with a terrestrial mobile operator.

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