A private Indian aerospace company, Ananth Technologies, which already works with the government in the space domain, has secured authorisation from space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) for offering broadband space services from 2028.
The company is looking to deploy a four-tonne geostationary (GEO) communication satellite that will offer 100 gigabits per second capacity to users. It is planning to invest INR30 billion (about US$351 million) in the venture, with additional investments (and satellites) likely to be based on demand.
This appears to be a first for the company, which was incorporated in 1992 to support the growth of the Indian economy through leveraging aerospace technologies.
The company specialises in two key areas: the production of essential aerospace systems and the delivery of high-value geospatial services.
It now apparently plans to be a satellite operator. However, its focus seems to be on GEO satellites, which could limit the markets it addresses. Such satellites orbit at over 35,000 kilometres, much higher than low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, located 400-2,000 kilometres above the Earth.
GEO satellites also have higher latency. However, fewer are required to cover the Earth given the height at which they orbit.
That said, LEO satellites are seen as something of a growth opportunity in India, with names like Starlink, OneWeb and Amazon planning to enter the Indian market in the near future, a market in which no Indian company is, to date, planning any LEO launches.
Geostationary satellites are widely used for transmitting television, radio, and internet signals, as well as weather monitoring and navigation. However, real-time communication that requires minimal latency, the sort of area addressed by LEO satellites, notably in rural and remote areas, can be a problem.
It will be interesting therefore to see what market opportunities Ananth is targeting.
IN-SPACe figures cited by the Economic Times suggest that India’s space economy is reckoned to have a potential to reach $44 billion by 2033, boosting its global share to 8% from 2% currently.
