# Amazon Leo Amazon Leo is [[Amazon]]'s network of satellites in low Earth orbit for broadband internet, built to compete with [[Elon Musk]]'s [[Starlink]]. It was announced in 2019 as Project Kuiper and renamed Amazon Leo in November 2025. Amazon has committed at least $10 billion to it. The [[FCC]] has authorized about 3,200 satellites. It is the closest thing to a second Western supplier of satellite internet, which is why the Pentagon, allied governments and airlines are watching it closely. It is also far behind: by July 2026 Amazon had launched about 400 satellites, while Starlink had more than 9,000 active. ## Racing a deadline Amazon's FCC license required half the network, about 1,600 satellites, to be in orbit by 30 July 2026. Amazon came nowhere close. In January 2026 it asked for a two-year extension. In June 2026 the FCC instead granted a conditional waiver: satellites launched after the deadline lose priority on the radio spectrum they use until 2028, and the full first-generation network must be in orbit by July 2029. Amazon started shipping terminals to a few business customers, including JetBlue, in November 2025. As of October 2026 it had not announced a date for general consumer service. ## The rocket problem, and the Bezos–Musk rivalry Amazon's slow start was partly a launch problem. In 2022 it booked up to 83 launches, the largest commercial launch purchase ever, on three rockets that mostly were not flying yet: [[United Launch Alliance]]'s Vulcan, Europe's [[Ariane]] 6 and [[Blue Origin]]'s New Glenn. Blue Origin is owned by Amazon founder [[Jeff Bezos]]. It did not book SpaceX, the only company launching at high volume. In 2023 an Amazon shareholder, a pension fund, sued Amazon's board, arguing that directors had failed to seriously consider SpaceX because of the personal rivalry between Bezos and Musk. A few months later Amazon bought three launches on SpaceX's [[Falcon 9]], which carried satellites in 2025. As of late 2026 the Ariane 64 had flown three Amazon missions, the older Atlas V had flown its last Amazon batch in July 2026, and Vulcan and New Glenn had yet to carry Amazon satellites. ## Why it's on the map Amazon Leo matters less as a product than as a hedge. [[Starlink]] gives one man unusual leverage over military communications, as its role in Ukraine showed. U.S. defense officials have said openly that they want a second provider. The irony is that the main alternative is controlled by another of the world's richest men. Choosing between Starlink and Amazon Leo is not a choice between private and public power, but between two billionaires. Meanwhile Europe is building its own government-backed systems, [[OneWeb]] and [[IRIS²]], partly so it does not have to depend on either. ## See also - [[Amazon]] · [[Jeff Bezos]] — the company and its founder - [[Starlink]] · [[Elon Musk]] — the market leader it is chasing - [[Blue Origin]] — the Bezos-owned rocket company with Amazon launch contracts - [[Ariane]] · [[Falcon 9]] · [[United Launch Alliance]] — the rockets carrying it - [[OneWeb]] · [[IRIS²]] — Europe's alternatives - [[FCC]] — the regulator that sets its deadlines