Reliance Jio eyes India's own satellite broadband network
Reliance Jio is evaluating the development of a sovereign low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for India as it looks to expand connectivity to remote parts of the country, Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said at Reliance Industries' 49th annual general meeting on Friday.
The announcement comes a day after ET reported that
Reliance Jio was planning a constellation of around 1,600-1,650 LEO satellites to offer broadband and direct-to-device services, potentially becoming the first Indian company to build a large-scale satellite network in the segment.
Alongside its own satellite plans,
Jio is also partnering with leading global satellite constellation operators to accelerate the rollout of services while it builds domestic capabilities. "We are also partnering with the leading global constellation providers so that we can accelerate service availability while building our own sovereign capability," Ambani said.
To support these ambitions,
Jio is also building ground station infrastructure in India. According to Ambani, the facilities will support both partner constellations and any future satellites launched by the company, helping create an end-to-end satellite broadband ecosystem spanning both space and terrestrial infrastructure.
According to bureau sources,
Jio has submitted a proposal to space regulator IN-SPACe for a constellation that would operate at an altitude of about 650 kilometres and offer broadband as well as direct-to-device connectivity services. The network is expected to be deployed over the next two to three years.
If executed at the proposed scale, the project would make Reliance the first Indian company to build a large LEO constellation, entering a segment currently dominated by Elon Musk's Starlink, which has about 10,000 satellites in orbit. Amazon's Project Kuiper is also building a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites, while Eutelsat OneWeb, backed by Sunil Mittal's Bharti Group, operates a network of around 650 satellites.
The move comes amid growing efforts by governments worldwide to reduce dependence on foreign-owned communications infrastructure, particularly in strategically sensitive sectors such as satellite connectivity. People aware of the matter had told ET that the government is willing to support Indian entities entering the segment, including through International Telecommunication Union (ITU) filings required to secure orbital resources.
Reliance Jio is exploring a plan to build its own satellite network for India. This initiative aims to bring internet access to remote areas. The company is also partnering with global satellite providers. This dual approach will speed up service delivery. Jio is establishing ground stations to...
economictimes.indiatimes.com
====
Apparently, Jio is planning a $10-15 billion capital outlay for creating this constellation. I'd reckon they might actually end up acquiring/investing in one of the smaller companies that already have experience in the field like Dhruva Space, which recently got funding to build & scale 500-kg flatpack satellites at their new manufacturing facilities designed for producing 500-600 satellites per year.
I've made a post about Dhruva's Project Garud program in the Space thread:
https://defencehub.live/threads/indian-space-program.422/post-391554
A fully sovereign satellite broadband network is going to be a real necessity as it doesn't appear we'll trust SpaceX/Starlink (they're still not being given security clearances to operate in India). China & Europe will be developing their own constellations, looks like so will we.
Jio/Reliance Industries certainly has got all the capital they need, and a fully domestic technology stack already exists for the most part (both in terms of spacecraft & the telecom suite), as does launch capability.
@Nilgiri
