The plan targets more than 600,000 villages, islands and border outposts with a 1,600-satellite network.
NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio has placed a bold idea before the 10th India Mobile Congress: about 1,600 low earth orbit satellites and 23 ground stations that would carry its network to places towers cannot easily reach. Branded “Sovereign Satellite Connectivity”, the plan has already cleared an important early hurdle, a technical review that found the design sound. Naturally, licences, spectrum and launches still lie ahead, but the foundations look encouraging.
A strong first test passed
In July 2026, IN-SPACe completed a preliminary review with experts from ISRO and the Department of Telecommunications’ Wireless Planning and Coordination wing. It judged the architecture technically sound and viable, with capacity of 4.5 to 5 Tbps that is comparable to active global constellations. Importantly, this is an engineering validation and not a licence. Even so, it confirms that the design does not breach orbital safety guidelines or radio frequency norms.
The plan places satellites at about 650 km and targets the entire landmass and maritime zone. That includes more than 600,000 villages, islands and border outposts. Reported phasing begins with a test flight in September 2027 and 400 to 450 satellites by 2030.
Space as an extension of Jio’s network
Notably, the constellation is designed as an overlay for Jio’s terrestrial backbone and not as a standalone service. It would feed rural towers where fibre is hard to lay and offer direct-to-device voice and messaging to ordinary smartphones in dead zones. No dish would be needed for that basic service.
Consequently, the design suits India’s economics. User terminals cost $300 to $500 or more, roughly ₹25,000 to ₹42,000, against a blended mobile ARPU of about ₹215.6 a month. By building on shared network infrastructure, Jio shifts that burden away from households. Furthermore, as terrestrial coverage saturates, the last 10 to 15% of the landmass is where space connectivity adds the most value.
A sovereign chain, built step by step
Jio’s pitch keeps design, integration, testing, launch and ground control within India. It also envisages hosting defence and national security payloads on select satellites. Execution will take time, of course. Space-grade components still depend on foreign intellectual property and ISRO’s LVM3 lifts about 10 tonnes to low earth orbit, so early launches may involve foreign partners.
Meanwhile, the ecosystem is advancing. Private launchers such as Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos are building orbital vehicles and Jio already holds 51% of Jio Space Technology, a joint venture with SES. That venture offers medium and geostationary capacity for enterprise and government backhaul today. Together, the two tracks give Jio leased capacity now and owned low earth orbit later.
A market that is opening up
The regulatory path is becoming clearer. Starlink holds a GMPCS licence and IN-SPACe clearance and it has set up more than 20 gateway sites. Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb has a licence, authorisation and trial spectrum. Meanwhile, the Digital Communications Commission has approved a spectrum usage charge of 5% of adjusted gross revenue and satellite spectrum is slated for administrative assignment. Jio has approached the Ministry of Communications to begin its ITU filings. Its own constellation would give it structural parity with global operators in the domestic market.
Capital will be the long-term test. Independent industry estimates put the full build-out at $10 billion to $15 billion, or about ₹96,430 crore to ₹1,44,645 crore, spread over many years. Reliance Industries has already capitalised over ₹1,00,000 crore in 5G terrestrial assets and its annual capital expenditure stands near ₹1.44 lakh crore. Jio Platforms filed its draft prospectus in June for a $3.8 billion IPO, so investors will weigh any space commitment closely. Satellites last five to seven years, which implies 200 to 300 replacements a year once the fleet is complete.
What to watch
Several markers will show the plan gaining ground. These include ITU registration of Jio’s filings, GMPCS authorisation and spectrum pricing from the DoT and launch and manufacturing contracts. Disclosures on space spending in the IPO documents will also matter.
Encouragingly, India now has serious contenders across several orbits and a policy architecture taking shape. Ultimately, the September 2027 test flight will show how quickly this vision can move from the exhibition hall to orbit.
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