SPACEX INCORPORATES SUBSIDIARY IN INDIA

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has incorporated its wholly-owned subsidiary in India on November 1, 2021, to start local broadband operations.

About:

• The satellite broadband arm of SpaceX, Starlink, aims to start broadband services in India from December 2022. It has 2 lakh active terminals subject to permission from the Indian government.
• The subsidiary has been named SSCPL, which stands for ‘Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited’. The company was incorporated on November 1, 2021.
• Starlink has already received more than 5,000 pre-orders from India.

Data charges

Starlink is charging a deposit of USD 99 (Rs 7,350) from each customer. It claims to deliver data speeds in the range of 50 to 150 megabits per second in the beta stage. Its services will compete with the services provided by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea in broadband. It will also be a  direct competitor of Bharti Group-backed OneWeb.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer, communications corporation and space transportation services. It is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the aim of reducing space transportation costs to provide for the colonization of Mars. It manufactures the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, Dragon cargo, crew spacecraft, several rocket engines and Starlink communications satellites.

About Starlink

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX. It provides satellite Internet access to most part of the Earth. As of now, it comprises of more than 1600 satellites.