Jio Mulls Developing Sovereign LEO Satellite Constellation

Jio may also explore partnerships with “leading global constellation providers” by leasing satellite capacity to accelerate service availability while it builds out its own satellite capabilities

Jio will also build ground stations in the country to support its partner constellations and its own future satellites and create an end-to-end satellite broadband network

The company claims to be building “one of the largest” AI-infrastructure platforms in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, which will be powered completely by its clean energy plants

IPO-bound telecom major Jio Platforms is evaluating the development of a sovereign low earth orbit satellite constellation for India.

During RIL’s 49th annual general meeting, Jio Platforms’ managing director Akash Ambani further noted that the telecom major can potentially partner with “leading global constellation providers” by leasing satellite capacity to accelerate service availability while it builds out its own satellite capabilities.

This will allow Jio to extend its telecom network to rural villages, especially those in hilly and mountainous regions, island geographies, and border outposts.

Through expanding its satellite capabilities, the company hopes to lay the groundwork for building a satellite broadband network of a global scale. Existing players in the space include SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Amazon’s Project Kuiper, now called Amazon Leo.

To establish this, Jio will look at building ground stations in India that will support its partner constellations and its own future satellites.

While the company didn’t divulge its exact plans pertaining to its satellite network, a report by ET yesterday said that the company is planning to set up a constellation of around 1,600-1,650 LEO satellites. The project, under review by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), could cost between $10-15 Bn and can be executed over the next two-to-three years.

Important to highlight that Jio and Starlink had inked an agreement last year under which the telecom giant intended to offer Starlink’s broadband internet services to its customers in India, subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India.

Starlink had received an in-principle approval to launch satcom services in India last May through its LEO constellation network consisting of 10,000 satellites.

While it has received a license to launch operations, the company has faced repeated regulatory hurdles for its satcom rollout. Earlier this month , it was reported that the Central government denied Starlink permission to use its interlinked satellites for internet services unless adequate safeguards are put in place to address security concerns.

Along with introducing Jio’s LEO ambition, RIL’s management also doubled down on its recently launched AI arm Reliance Intelligence during the AGM.

The company claims to be building “one of the largest” AI-infrastructure platforms in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, which will be powered completely by its clean energy plants harnessing solar energy in the Kutch region.

As per Ambani, 120 MW of AI compute will become operational for the project by the end of 2026. As the first 120 MW becomes fully operational, this capacity can scale to over 2 Lakh H100-equivalent GPUs.

Reliance Intelligence is also expected to deliver sovereign AI hosting within India, model transparency and portability for Indian enterprises. The company intends to leverage its partnership with Meta by utilising Llama open source AI for enterprise deployments.

The company is also building multi-lingual AI capabilities to launch platforms such as AI-companion JioBharat IQ, small-business intelligence platform AI Vyapar, healthcare support platform JioHealth IQ, multi-lingual edtech platform JioLearn IQ, and farming intelligence platform JioKrishi IQ.

Reliance Intelligence was launched as a subsidiary of RIL in August last year by chairman Mukesh Ambani to build the next generation of AI infrastructure in India. The subsidiary is working on making AI compute as accessible and affordable as possible. Another goal is to bring AI services to everyday consumers in India, highlighted by the announcement of new platform capabilities and a voice AI agent during the AGM today.

Reliance Intelligence has since inked partnerships with Google, Meta and Nvidia to build compute capabilities, cloud infra and AI technology offerings. Meta currently owns a 30% stake in the AI subsidiary in addition to a 9.99% stake in Jio.

The development comes as Jio Platforms filed its draft papers for an up to $4 Bn IPO via the fresh issue of up to 27 Cr equity shares with a face value of ₹10 each. The company’s board has approved the draft red herring prospectus for the public float, which is set to be filed with the SEBI on June 19.

Shares of Reliance Industries ended today’s trading session 1.39% lower at ₹1,309.35 on the BSE.

Source: Inc42 - Startups