The satcom services space heats up

OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications will soon have company. As the two, Bharti-backed Oneweb and Reliance Jio’s satellite arm, JSC prepare to give a live demo this month, Starlink and Amazon’s project Kuiper are getting aggressive. Amazon is in the final stage of applying for an operating licence for satellite communications. The Seattle-headquartered firm is in the process of applying for a satellite communications service operator’s licence for its Project Kuiper service, and will seek to officially file it with the department of telecommunications (DoT) in the coming month. The company has recently met with DoT officials to understand complications and roadblocks ahead of filing their satellite operators’ licence.

Today Amazon.com Inc. is poised to launch its first two test satellites for Project Kuiper, in an exercise to build out a massive internet-from-space constellation. The test satellites are set to take off on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V workhorse rocket in Florida at 2 pm local time. Dubbed the “protoflight” mission, the satellites, which Amazon hoped to have in space a year ago, are meant to test out the company’s ability to beam broadband internet from orbit. It’ll be the first in-flight test of Amazon’s ambitious Project Kuiper initiative, on which it’s pledged to spend more than $10 billion.

Spectrum for launch of satellite communication services is still awaited by the Indian players. Whether the authorities go the Jio-Vi way and auction the spectrum or administratively allocate, as the other providers are pushing for needs to be decided. With the TRAI chairman, PD Vaghela having retired on September 30, this will be one of the urgent tasks that the new chairman, once he assumes charge will address.

Also awaited is the decision, if the government will allow the players to provide wireless connectivity to consumers with enabling handsets. Currently the LoIs issued to OneWeb and Jio are for fixed satellite services. This will also potentially pave the way for other players to compete with mobile service providers.

Starlink is awaiting approval of its GMPCS application, OneWeb and JSC, have the GMPCS licenses, and have applied to the DoT to get test spectrum for doing trials on a wider scale for satcom services. Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Nelco are the other interested parties.

The Indian satellite communication market is valued at USD 2.23 billion in the current year. It is expected to record a CAGR of 17.27% reaching USD 5.71 billion by the next five years. The rising demand for satellite-based services, increasing investment in the space sector, and growing adoption of satellite-based applications are driving the market in India.