India Unveils BharatSat-1 Indigenous Satellite Communication Plat...

The Department of Telecommunications unveiled BharatSat-1, India first domestically developed commercial satellite communication platform designed to compete with Starlink, OneWeb, and Amazon Kuiper in providing broadband internet via low-Earth orbit satellites. The programme, executed by New Space India Limited and three private sector partners including Larsen and Toubro and Tata Advanced Systems, will deploy an initial constellation of 198 satellites at 550 kilometres altitude beginning in late 2026. BharatSat-1 is designed to provide 100 to 300 Mbps broadband at latency below 40 milliseconds with ground terminals priced at under Rs 8,000. The spectrum allocation, licensing, and orbital slot registration have been completed. Officials said BharatSat-1 would directly serve India strategic needs in border areas and island territories where no terrestrial connectivity is viable.