News: 0176673447

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

SpaceX Readies Starlink India Launch

(Tuesday March 11, 2025 @12:47PM (msmash) from the international-expansion dept.)


SpaceX's Starlink has secured its first agreement in India, partnering with telecommunications leader Bharti Airtel to bring high-speed satellite internet to the world's most populous country, the companies [1]announced Tuesday [PDF].

The landmark deal will enable Starlink to tap into Airtel's extensive retail network and ground infrastructure while expanding its global reach into previously underserved regions across India, pending regulatory authorizations.

"We are excited to work with Airtel and unlock the transformative impact Starlink can bring to the people of India," said Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. "The team at Airtel has played a pivotal role in India's telecom story, so working with them to complement our direct offering makes great sense for our business."

The collaboration will explore selling Starlink equipment through Airtel's retail stores and offering services to business customers while connecting communities in rural areas with limited connectivity.



[1] https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive//c8de1c29-4b26-4c8b-abab-80f7997660d6.pdf



What A Terrible Headline (Score:3)

by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 )

What a terrible headline.

It had me wondering why SpaceX would be relying on anyone else to launch Starlink satellites.

Re: (Score:3)

by postbigbang ( 761081 )

It IS an odd headline.

But Musk will piss off Modi, and it will all be for naught.

Bezos or an equivalent will slide into place. TechBros will save the day.

Re: (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward

More like a TechGramps

India Doesn't Trust Starlink (Score:2)

by Vandil X ( 636030 )

I went on a cruise that sailed along India's west coast, making two stops. The entire time we were in Indian maritime waters, our cruise ship had to have its Starlink Internet turned off.

Re: (Score:3)

by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

It's surprising that India is allowing it. Normally they are not too keen on foreign tech companies and require things like manufacturing in India before letting them take any significant market share.

Maybe that's what the team-up with this other company is about, but now they have the additional national security concerns of having Musk control internet access for Indian citizens.

Re: (Score:3)

by Jayhawk0123 ( 8440955 )

with the amount of money that changed hands to make this happen, you'd understand why it was signed off on.

Policies and regulations are there to push for bribes... unfortunately, nothing happens in India without multiple wheels getting greased.

Retail service only (Score:3)

by RockDoctor ( 15477 )

After the last week's threats against Ukraine, no country is going to be stupid enough to use Starlink for an strategic purpose.

Except, possibly Russia. After they've completed their takeover of America.

Re: (Score:1)

by colonslash ( 544210 )

Sorry, but Israel already owns America, so Russia can't have it.

Re: Retail service only (Score:2)

by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 )

Well, Israel is now nearly 20% russian, and these support bibi orbanovich felonyahu, so what's the big difference?

Re: (Score:2)

by Jayhawk0123 ( 8440955 )

Israel? seriously? Their entire GDP is barely above Musks worth... well, maybe not so close today... after his idiocy. Israels GDP in '24- $558 billion.... Musk in '24- $486 Billion.

They wouldn't be able to own ONE Musk, let alone the rest of the US.... please.. apply some critical thinking.

Re: (Score:1)

by colonslash ( 544210 )

I think it's more about the sexual blackmail than money. I wonder what they have on Trump, suddenly he's not America first.

Re: (Score:2)

by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 )

Why would we assume Russia and Israel are enemies? They're not exactly friends but it's more complex than that. (Imagine that, international relations complicated)

[1]Netanyahu’s Diplomacy With Putin Ensured IDF’s Successful Attack on Iran [thedefensepost.com]

[1] https://thedefensepost.com/2024/11/10/netanyahu-diplomacy-putin/

Starlink Worked Great for Ukrane--No Wait... (Score:2)

by BrendaEM ( 871664 )

Sure, it will be reliable when the Russians invade. LOL!

The Devil's Triskelion (Score:2)

by Pseudonymous Powers ( 4097097 )

I look forward to a condescending post on Twitter about how ACTUALLY the swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol for good luck, and that they were thus painted on the Starlink satellites for good luck. Are you AGAINST good luck or something?

Open Source Irrational Constant

BREEZEWOOD, PA -- In a revelation that could rock the foundations of
science, a researcher in Pennsylvania has discovered that the digits of the
irrational constant PI encode a version of the Linux kernel. "I can't
believe it," the researcher, Neil Hoffman, exclaimed. "And yet, here I am
staring at what appears to be the source code for Linux kernel 5.0.0.
Needless to say, my whole world-view has changed..."

Hoffman explained, "My algorithm, which applies several dozen conversions and
manipulations to each digit of PI, spits out plain vanilla ASCII characters
that happen to form the source code for the Linux kernel."

Many members of the scientific community are skeptical. One One
mathematician who has memorized the digits of PI to 10,000 places said,
"This is the kind of nonsense one would expect to find in a tabloid such as
the National Mathematics Enquirer. Or a Linux fortune(6) file. Hoffman's
'discovery' is obviously a hoax designed to secure government research
grants."

In a related matter, we have received an unconfirmed report that a region of
the Mandelbrot fractal contains what appear to be the words "LINUS TORVALDS
WAS HERE". In addition, the words "TRANSMETA: THIS SECRET MESSAGE IS NOT
HERE YET" supposedly appear within the depths of the Julia Set.