The Internet connection service through Project Kuiper satellites changes its name to Amazon Leo. It will be the commercial name of Starlink’s competitor, which starts its journey next monthoffering connection to a handful of companies.
Leo is an acronym for Low-Earth Orbitthe low orbit around the Earth used by communications satellites.
Amazon Leo is the culmination of years of work by Jeff Bezos’ company to offer what Elon Musk’s Starlink now offers.
Amazon satellites enter service
It seems like a business that doesn’t have much to do with e-commerce, but the Amazon founder’s passion for the space has played a role here. Let’s not forget that Bezos also has his own space company, Blue Origin. As Starlink does with SpaceX, it is already using it to put satellites into orbit.
Amazon Leo will offer Internet connection of up to 1 Gbps to any location in the worldusing a small antenna.
Its first customers are JetBlue, L3Harris, DIRECTV Latin America, Sky Brasil and NBN Co., the operator of Australia’s national broadband network, who will begin connecting before the end of the year.
But Don’t expect to hire Internet through Amazon Leo soon. It only has 153 satellites in orbit, compared to Starlink’s more than 8,000.
To correct this, Amazon has signed “the largest set of launch contracts in history,” according to the press release. Blue Origin cannot do everything, which is why Arianespace, ULA, and even SpaceX will also put their satellites into orbit in the coming years.
Has permission from the Federal Trade Commission to launch 3,236 satelliteswith one condition: that at least half are launched before July 30, 2026. So you have just nine months to put more than 1,600 satellites into orbit. That implies launch rockets every weekwhich is why it has hired so many space companies.
Amazon Leo, Amazon’s satellite connection, begins its journey. It won’t reach individual customers until well into 2026.