IN-SPACe grants technical approval for Reliance Jio’s LEO project

Details: John Tanner; Category: Satellite Networks; 17 July 2026; 849 views

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has reportedly ruled that Reliance Jio’s proposal to build a domestic LEO satellite constellation to compete with the likes of Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon Leo is technically sound.

According to a report from ETTelecom published Friday, citing anonymous government sources, IN-SPACe), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) arm of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have evaluated Jio’s plan and found it to be “on par” with systems like Starlink.

Neither Reliance Jio nor IN-SPACe have confirmed the report as of post time.

According to the report, Jio’s plan – which first surfaced last month – calls a constellation of 1,600 LEO satellites, with 32 satellites visible at any given time, while the constellation will be designed to offer a bandwidth capacity of between 4.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps. Jio is also proposing to set up at least 20 ground stations to support the LEO constellation.

The nod of approval from IN-SPACe means the Indian government can now provide regulatory support for Jio as it submits filings to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to secure the orbital slots, the report said.

While global operators like Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon Leo are building far bigger LEO constellations, Jio’s main advantage is that the Indian government is keen to expand its self-reliance strategy to the LEO sat space.

The report said that apart from finding Jio’s proposal technically sound, IN-SPACe also sees merit in the national security and strategic defence implications of not having to rely on foreign operators for LEO satellite services.

The report also claims the government is discussing whether some of the LEO satellites in its network could carry defence payloads.

The Indian government appears to be caught between its view that LEO satellites can expand broadband connectivity to underserved and unserved across the country, and its growing concerns over national security in light of its ongoing tensions with China and Pakistan, as well as growing geopolitical tensions in general.

Last month, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed concerns over possible signal spillage of foreign satellite services across India’s borders, which it said raises national security concerns.

In November last year, IN-SPACe reportedly rejected applications from Chinasat, APT Satellite (Apstar) and AsiaSat to offer satellite services in India, citing national security.

Starlink obtained a GMPCS licence in June 2025 to offer satellite communications services in India, as well as authorisation from IN-SPACe. It's already signed reseller deals with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. However it has yet to secure security clearances from the government over issues such as compliance with foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations, to cite a recent example.

Eutelsat OneWeb and SES both have GMPCS licences, the latter via SES’s satellite venture with Jio. Amazon Leo’s application for a GMPCS licence is reportedly still be evaluated by the DoT.