Amazon launches 400 satellites in bold push to expand its space ambitions

©NASA via Unsplash

Amazon is ramping up its satellite internet project this summer. Following a recent launch, the LEO constellation now has 394 satellites in orbit around Earth, and the company says it plans to launch its first service later this year.

Competing with Starlink

On Thursday, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket deployed 29 satellites into low Earth orbit. This brings Amazon Leo—formerly Project Kuiper—closer to the commercial launch the company has been working toward for years. According to Amazon, there are now enough “flight-ready” satellites to serve its first customers later this year.

The network is set to challenge Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service. Amazon aims to offer download speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps, depending on the antenna customers choose. With this, the company is targeting a broad market for high-speed internet in areas where fiber-optic or cellular networks fall short. Still, Amazon lags far behind the market leader. Starlink now has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves millions of customers worldwide, while Amazon is still in the early stages of its rollout. The company ultimately plans to launch more than 7,700 of its own satellites, but its current U.S. license covers an initial cluster of 3,232. That license also brought with it some pressure. Amazon was originally required to have half of the planned constellation in space by July 2026, but it will miss that deadline. Earlier this year, the U.S. telecommunications regulator, the FCC, granted the company an extension until 2028 for that first half and is maintaining the final deadline for the entire constellation in 2029.

What now?

Amazon says that a new, purpose-built production and integration facility should ramp up the launch pace. Upcoming missions will use the Vulcan rocket, which can carry larger payloads than the Atlas V. This should speed up the rollout and provide greater coverage following the first commercial launch. The company has also already expressed its European ambitions. Telecom regulator Ofcom previously granted Amazon Leo a license to offer satellite internet in the United Kingdom. Amazon has not yet disclosed exactly how much the service will cost. So the big question remains not whether Amazon Leo will launch, but whether, with such a late entry, it can truly keep up with what Starlink has already built.

©NASA via Unsplash - illustrative image of a satellite