Elon Musk's SpaceX has appointed Sanjay Bhargava as the head of Starlink, the low-earth orbit satellite internet provider, for India. Starlink has previously signalled interest in the Indian market, but this is SpaceX's most direct signal yet that it is putting in the legwork to enter the country. Analytics India Magazine first reported the hire, which Bhargava announced on LinkedIn. "Super excited to join SpaceX effective Oct 1, 2021 as Starlink Country Director India," Bhargava said in his post. "[I] had worked with @elonmusk on the PayPal founding team. Have been in India since 2004 and Starlink and I share a common passion for supporting a transformed India starting with Rural India," he added. "Our plans are still evolving and I will keep you posted from time to time. Till we have government approval for at least a pilot we will not be adding any people In India," Bhargava said in a follow-up post. The government says it is keen on having satellite internet rolled out for rural areas. While Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep have been getting internet access through satellite connectivity, LEO constellations like Starlink and Bharti Ltd's OneWeb have far better coverage and bandwidth, due to the sheer number of satellites in the sky and improvements in bandwidth utilisation in recent years. This may greatly reduce the costs of delivering broadband in rural areas without a terrestrial internet link. SpaceX and India SpaceX's first public engagement with the Indian market was in November last year when…
