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Amazon Leo will face fierce competition from SpaceX’s Starlink, which has a considerable headstart, both in terms of satellites launched and commercial partnerships
With Amazon inching ever closer to its commercial satellite service launch, the company has this week rebranded its satellite initiative from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo.
The new name finds its origin in the low Earth orbit (LEO) in which its operational satellites will sit, discardng the original codename “Project Kuiper,” which was a nod to the Kuiper Belt, a distant asteroid region beyond Neptune.
According to Amazon, Project Kuiper was always intended only as a working title during the early development phases of their satellite programme, which began back in 2019. Since then, Amazon Leo has launched 153 satellites into orbit, with plans for over 80 further launches and a target constellation size around 3,000 satellites.
The company has completed six launches, with three notably using its rival SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. United Launch Alliance (ULA) has also played a crucial role, successfully launching the first 27 operational Kuiper satellites aboard an Atlas V rocket back in April 2025, a significant step marking the beginning of full-scale deployment for Amazon’s satellite array. Amazon also contracts with Arianespace and Blue Origin.
Amazon has said roughly 578 devices will be required to achieve global coverage, with commercial services expected to be launch in five markets – the UK, France, Germany, Canada and the US – by the end of Q1 next year.
Once deployed, these satellites will be used to provide broadband services to unserved and underserved communities, as well as backhaul for mobile operators and enterprise connectivity.
Amazon Leo will be a direct competitor of SpaceX’s Starlink, which has already launched roughly 8,800 satellites and serves millions of users globally. Despite this, Amazon remains bullish on its prospects, highlighting the strength of its R&D.
“Our long-term mission remains the same, and we’re making good progress against it,” said Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Amazon Leo in a company blog post. “We now operate one of the largest satellite production lines on the planet. We’ve invented some of the most advanced customer terminals ever built, including the first commercial phased array antenna to support gigabit speeds. And we now have more than 150 satellites in orbit, and customers and partners like JetBlue, L3Harris, DIRECTV Latin America, Sky Brasil, and NBN Co., Australia’s National Broadband Network operator, already signing up to deploy the service.”
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