Eutelsat OneWeb Urgently Seeks Government Security Approval for Satellite Services in India

Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb has sought "immediate grant of security approval" for its low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation so that commercial services can be launched at the earliest.

The plea to the government comes in the wake of a delay of more than a year and a half in getting the approval. The company had conducted its security compliance demonstration in January last year.

The lack of clearance is holding the company from launching the service and monetise the investment.

While Elon Musk-owned Starlink and Jio Satellite are also waiting for the security clearance, experts say Eutelsat OneWeb could suffer the most because of the delay. The company was the first to secure a satcom permit five years back and authorisation from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) nearly two and a half years ago.

Many of its LEO satellites are nearing end of life, which means they could become useless if there are further delays.

Eutelsat OneWeb did not respond to a query on its application till the time of going to press Tuesday.

The company, according to people in the know, told the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the requisite data and details concerning the security demonstration have been submitted and even the additional queries from the law enforcement agencies have been answered but despite that the approval is yet to come.

OneWeb was expected to get the first mover's advantage in India's satcom market as the company was originally looking to start services in 2022. But due to issues including the Russia-Ukraine war which impacted the launch of satellites and a delay in getting approvals from Indian authorities, the company is still not able to launch services.

As per industry sources, the company is replacing some satellites which have completed their life, but their numbers may be coming down.

The company has already established the requisite ground infrastructure including gateways at Mehsana in Gujarat and Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu and two points of presence in Mumbai and Chennai.

While Starlink and Jio Satellite are also awaiting security clearance, the plans of the three companies are different. OneWeb wants to cater to the business-to-business segment, while Starlink has plans to offer services directly to retail consumers. Jio will offer services through its joint venture with SES, a medium earth orbit player. Reliance Jio is also in the process to launch its LEO constellation.