Amazon has changed the temporary name of its “Project Kuiper” satellite project to the new commercial name Amazon Leo. This new name has received praise from our reporter.
Amazon Leo is the company’s low Earth orbit satellite network, designed to provide broadband services to users in areas lacking ground broadband access. This service will directly compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, which has been offering commercial broadband services since 2021 and currently has a clear lead. Starlink currently has over 8000 satellites in orbit and has applied to launch an additional 15000. It currently serves over 8 million customers.
In contrast, Amazon Leo’s initial satellite constellation will consist of over 3000 satellites, but only about 150 have been launched so far.
Service Plan and Global Deployment
According to an official Amazon blog post, Amazon Leo will ultimately provide services to “most countries around the world”. However, it should be noted that both SpaceX and Amazon must obtain licenses in other countries to operate satellite services over their territories.
Amazon Leo is headquartered in Redmond, Washington and has a satellite production facility in Kirkland, Washington that can build up to five satellites per day.
Amazon stated that it will provide three levels of broadband services, with the highest downlink speeds being 100 Mbps, 400 Mbps, and 1 Gbps, respectively. The company has not yet announced any pricing details. As a comparison, Starlink currently offers service packages of up to 100 Mbps ($40 per month), 200 Mbps ($80 per month), and 305 Mbps ($120 per month).
Amazon Leo plans to provide initial satellite broadband services to some enterprises by the end of 2025, and residential services will be launched in 2026.
Award status of BEAD project
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is currently processing BEAD proposals for all states and territories in the United States. Data shows that approximately 20.9% of BEAD awards (totaling over 754300 locations) will be allocated to satellite providers Starlink and Amazon Leo. Currently, Starlink has obtained approximately 426700 locations, while Amazon Leo has obtained approximately 323900 locations. However, these numbers may change after NTIA makes its final decision.
It is curious why Amazon Leo, which has not yet provided commercial satellite broadband services, has been awarded so many contracts. For example, Oklahoma awarded 5200 locations (15.1% of the total) to Amazon Leo. When asked why all LEO in the state were awarded to a company that has not yet built a commercial constellation, Edyn Rolls, Chief Strategy Officer of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, admitted, “To be honest, their offer is lower.”
In fact, under the new BEAD rules implemented since the Trump administration, states are required to award BEAD funds to the lowest bidder.
Telecom blogger Doug Dawson summed it up most brilliantly: “Without a doubt, this has become the most peculiar year in my career in the broadband field. We see digital equality grants being cancelled, BEAD spending cut in half, and perhaps the weirdest thing is that states are offering Kuiper a large number of BEAD awards, even though the company is far from welcoming its first broadband customer.”
He added, “You may think we should learn from Starlink’s resounding victory in the RDOF reverse auction. The FCC ultimately cancelled these awards as it determined that Starlink was not yet ready to fulfill its significant commitment to serve a large number of locations in specific geographic regions.”
The trend of satellite and telecommunications integration
Despite facing many growth challenges, 2026 seems to be an important year for cooperation and competition between telecommunications operators and satellite operators.
It is worth noting that GSMA emphasized that the annual event of the wireless industry, MWC 2026, held in Barcelona, Spain, will kick off with keynote speeches by SpaceX and Starlink executives.
