[smoldesu]

Presumably, but that hasn't worked out so well in countries like India. Adding insult to injury (or potentially comedy), the Indian government doesn't have an easy way to hunt down the existing Starlink users, so they're merely asking citizens not to buy them until they can strongarm Starlink into becoming a registered internet provider in India.

[GekkePrutser]

Strange. Currently starlink does not have sat to sat meshing yet. That means that the ground segment must be in view of the same sat while serving. India is pretty big. So they could just ban SpaceX from operating ground stations and that should stop them. Except in the border areas where they could be painted by ground stations from neighbouring countries.

But I'm not sure how big the cells are. It could be that they are as big as to cover most of India? Doubt it though.

But yeah it would be great if we had a truly independent internet provider for an affordable price.

[ummonk]

What are you talking about? Starlink isn’t operating in India yet - why would the government need to hunt down anyone?

And if Starlink did start broadcasting in Indian airwaves without a permit (not really possible since they’d need a ground station but assume they place some ground stations around India’s borders), it would be a good opportunity for India to test its anti satellite weaponry.

[smoldesu]

> What are you talking about? Starlink isn’t operating in India yet - why would the government need to hunt down anyone?

> Reuters states that since Starlink officially registered its business in India on November 1st, it has already seen over 5,000 preorders in the country [0]

That's from The Verge's article a few days ago.

> And if Starlink did start broadcasting in Indian airwaves without a permit (not really possible since they’d need a ground station but assume they place some ground stations around India’s borders)

They don't need to. It could just as easily operate from across the border, the ground station I'm connected to is in Canada even though I live in the United States.

> it would be a good opportunity for India to test its anti satellite weaponry.

Maybe if they had a geostationary satellite, sure. Starlink is a LEO constellation though, so if they took down a satellite this weekend, SpaceX would launch 60 more by next Saturday (and service wouldn't be interrupted since there's considerable redundancy built into the system). Unless India intends to take out a few hundred satellites and be responsible for potentially catastrophic space debris, I think it wouldn't be a good opportunity for them to test their anti-satellite weaponry.

[0] https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/27/22804830/starlink-india-...

[Xylakant]

How can starlink operate without a ground station in India? Every receiver needs to act as a ground station or you cannot send traffic. If the receivers are unlicensed, running one would be a legal risk.

[ummonk]

They’re taking preorders not sending out receivers and providing internet service.

As to the economics of anti-satellite warfare, you only have to destroy a small number of satellites to create a gap in coverage that will periodically sweep across the whole globe.

[14]

I believe it has registered its business in India but has yet to receive licensing. So taking preorders does not mean they sent those people any equipment just that they are taking orders so when allowed to they can ship equipment to those people.

[MertsA]

They've also already received flak from the Indian government over taking preorders before they're licensed to provide service.