Amazon Leo

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Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a subsidiary of Amazon established in 2019 to deploy a large satellite internet constellation providing low-latency broadband connectivity. The project's original codename was inspired by the Kuiper belt. The service was rebranded as Amazon Leo in November 2025.
For other projects named Kuiper, see Kuiper (disambiguation).

Amazon Leo
FormerlyProject Kuiper (2019–2025)
Company typeSatellite internet provider
FoundedApril 2019; 6 years ago (2019-04)
FounderJeff Bezos
HeadquartersRedmond, Washington, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Rajeev Badyal (president)
Number of employees
1,400 (July 2023)[1]
ParentAmazon
Websiteleo.amazon.com

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a subsidiary of Amazon established in 2019 to deploy a large satellite internet constellation providing low-latency broadband connectivity.[2][3] The project's original codename was inspired by the Kuiper belt. The service was rebranded as Amazon Leo in November 2025.[4]

In July 2020, the Federal Communications Commission authorized Amazon to deploy 3,236 satellites into low Earth orbit.[5] Deployment is planned in five phases, with service expected to begin after the first 578 satellites reach orbit. Under the terms of its license, Amazon must launch and operate half of the constellation by July 30, 2026, and the remainder by July 30, 2029.[6]

To support the constellation, Amazon has purchased 92 rocket launches from United Launch Alliance, ArianeGroup, and Blue Origin—the latter founded by Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos—for a total cost exceeding US$10 billion.[7] In 2023, it also purchased three launches from SpaceX, operator of the competing Starlink network.[8]

History

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Founding to prototype launch

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In April 2019, Amazon officials announced that they would fund and deploy Project Kuiper, a large satellite constellation, to provide broadband internet service.[2][3] Officials said the project would "offer broadband service through partnerships with other companies", including to "tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet", although it remains unclear whether service will be offered directly to consumers.[9]

The president of Kuiper Systems, Rajeev Badyal, was a former vice president of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation. Fired by Elon Musk in 2018, Badyal soon afterward started Kuiper along with other ex-SpaceX employees.[9][10]

In December 2019, it was reported that Amazon was asking the FCC to waive requirements (e.g., to have applied by 2016) that SpaceX and OneWeb had to follow in order to get their large satellite internet constellations licensed.[11]

In July 2020, Amazon received FCC authorization to orbit a constellation of 3,236 satellites, provided, among other conditions, that they not interfere with previously authorized satellite ventures. Company officials said they would spend $10 billion on the effort.[12][13] It was expected to take up to a decade to fully deploy all 3,236 planned satellites.

In December 2020, Amazon unveiled a low-cost flat-panel user terminal antenna for the Project Kuiper system. It is a Ka-band phased-array antenna that is much smaller than traditional designs for antennas that operate at 17–30 GHz. The antenna will be ~30 cm (12 in) in width and is expected to support up to 400 megabits per second of data bandwidth at less than 20% of the cost of traditional state-of-the-art flat-panel antennas.[14] Amazon also announced that they intend to be "launch agnostic" and would not plan to exclusively use launch capacity from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company, but rather were open to launch capability offers from all providers.[14]

In April 2021, Amazon announced that it had contracted with ULA for nine launches of Kuiper satellites on Atlas V launch vehicles from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and noted that it will "continue to explore all options" for launching the remainder of the satellites.[15][16]

In April 2022, Amazon announced contracts with three launch providers for 83 launches over the next decade.[17] They include 18 launches of the European Ariane 6, 12 launches of Blue Origin's New Glenn (with options for 15 additional flights), and 38 launches on the Vulcan launch vehicle from United Launch Alliance.[7]

In August 2023, a lawsuit was filed by an Amazon shareholder, Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund, against the company claiming the Amazon board of directors acted in bad faith when procuring the approximately $10 billion in launch contracts for the constellation, which amounted to Amazon's second-largest capital expenditure to date.[18][7] Contracts to Blue Origin, owned by Bezos, amounted to 45% of the total expenditure. The suit suggests that animosity between Bezos and SpaceX founder Elon Musk may have precluded Amazon from contracting SpaceX's Falcon 9 vehicle, which is flight proven and potentially more cost-effective.[18]

Two initial prototype satellites, "KuiperSat-1" and "KuiperSat-2" launched on October 6, 2023, on an Atlas V rocket operated by United Launch Alliance from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.[19][20] The mission was deemed a success and both satellites were deorbited.[21]

Post prototype launch

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In December 2023, it was announced that Amazon had secured three Kuiper launches aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9.[8] These flew in July, August and October 2025, carrying 24 satellites each.

The Vulcan Centaur rocket launched for the first time on January 8, 2024,[22] clearing the way for the future ordered launches of Kuiper Systems satellites. Vulcan will launch 38 times for Kuiper. Ariane 6 made its maiden flight on July 9, 2024.[23] Ariane 6 is responsible for 18 Kuiper launches.

The first 27 production satellites were launched on April 28, 2025, aboard an Atlas V rocket. The company said that it had successfully established communications with all of the satellites.[24]

A public beta waitlist was announced alongside the Leo rebrand in November 2025. Early service is anticipated in 2026.

In January 2026, Amazon filed a request with the FCC to extend the deadline to launch half of their Gen1 constellation by July 2026. It disclosed 10 additional Falcon 9 and 12 additional New Glenn launch contracts.[25][26]

Technology

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Satellite constellation

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Amazon Leo has launched two prototype satellites and 180 production satellites to date as of December 2025.[a]

Amazon Leo's satellite constellation is planned to consist of 3,236 satellites operating in 98 orbital planes in three orbital shells, one each at 590 km (370 mi), 610 km (380 mi), and 630 km (390 mi) orbital altitude.[27] The satellites are equipped with Hall-effect thruster technology.[28] Phase 1 of deployment will be 578 satellites at 630 km altitude and an orbital inclination of 51.9 degrees. A total of five phases of constellation development are planned.[16]


In addition to connecting to ground stations to connect to the ground-based internet, satellites will interconnect via optical infrared laser connections. Amazon refers to this technology as OISL (optical inter-satellite link). These lasers are capable of maintaining 100 Gbps over distances up to 2,600 km among two satellites moving at 25,000 km/h. Current in-space tests have demonstrated this speed up to a distance of 1,000 km.[29][30]

User terminals

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Three customer terminal (CT) designs are planned for different market needs.

Amazon Leo Nano measures in at 7 inches square and weighs 2.2lb, and is intended to deliver up to 100Mbps to residential and mobility customers. Leo Pro, the standard CT, is 11 inches square and weighs 5.3lb, and is designed to deliver 400Mbps. The Leo Ultra terminal is 20x30 inches and advertised to deliver up to 1Gbps download and 400Mbps upload.[31] Multiple Ultra terminals can be ganged together for applications requiring higher bandwidth.

Facilities

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Organizational headquarters for Amazon Leo are located at an Amazon R&D facility in Redmond, Washington since 2020.[32] Development of satellite prototypes and production methods were initially performed at the Redmond site. Manufacturing and satellite production is located at 172,000 square feet (16,000 m2) facility in nearby Kirkland, Washington.[33] The factory in Kirkland opened in April 2024 and is planned to manufacture five satellites per day at peak capacity. A logistics center in Everett, Washington, is expected to open in June 2024 to supply the Kirkland factory with kits assembled from raw materials.[34]

Amazon owns a satellite processing and integration facility in Florida at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to integrate spacecraft for launch aboard United Launch Alliance, SpaceX and Blue Origin rockets from the spaceport.

Launch statistics

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Launch outcome

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
  •   Failure
  •   Partial failure
  •   Success
  •   Scheduled


Launch vehicle

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7


Launch history

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Date and time
(UTC) 		Rocket type Mission Satellites Operational
orbit 		Launch site Launch
status 		Notes
October 6, 2023
18:06[35] 		Atlas V 501 Protoflight 2 LEO, 500 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Success
  • First of 9 launches on Atlas V.
  • Launch of two prototype satellites.
April 28, 2025
23:01[36] 		Atlas V 551 KA-01 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Success First launch of production satellites.
June 23, 2025
10:54[37] 		Atlas V 551 KA-02 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Success
July 16, 2025
06:30[38] 		Falcon 9 Block 5 KF-01 24[39] LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Success First of 13 launches on Falcon 9.
August 11, 2025
12:35[40] 		Falcon 9 Block 5 KF-02 24 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Success
September 25, 2025
12:09[41] 		Atlas V 551 KA-03 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Success
October 14, 2025
01:58[42] 		Falcon 9 Block 5 KF-03 24 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 Success
December 16, 2025
08:28[43] 		Atlas V 551 LA-04 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Success First launch under the Amazon Leo name.
February 12, 2026
16:45[44][45] 		Ariane 64 Block 1 LE-01 32[46] LEO, 630 km Guiana, ELA-4 Planned First of 18 launches on Ariane 6.
March 2026 Vulcan VC6L LV-01 45[47] LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Planned First of 38 launches on Vulcan Centaur.
2026 Atlas V 551 LA-05 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Planned
2026 Atlas V 551 LA-06 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Planned
2026 Atlas V 551 LA-07 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Planned
2026 Atlas V 551 LA-08 27 LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 Planned Last launch on Atlas V
2026 New Glenn 7×2 LN-01 49[48] LEO, 630 km Cape Canaveral, LC-36 Planned First of 24 launches on New Glenn.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The two prototype satellites and first 153 production satellites were under the Project Kuiper name.

References

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  1. ^ Rainbow, Jason (July 21, 2023). "Amazon picks Kennedy Space Center for Project Kuiper processing facility". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Sheetz, Michael (April 4, 2019). "Amazon wants to launch thousands of satellites so it can offer broadband internet from space". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Henry, Caleb (April 4, 2019). "Amazon planning 3,236-satellite constellation for internet connectivity". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  4. ^ Bonifield, Stevie (November 13, 2025). "Starlink rival 'Project Kuiper' rebrands to Amazon Leo". The Verge. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  5. ^ In the Matter of Kuiper Systems LLC Application for Authority to Deploy and Operate a Ka-band Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit System (PDF). Federal Communications Commission (Report) (FCC 20-102 ed.). July 29, 2020. IBFS File No. SAT-LOA-20190704-00057. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  6. ^ Jewett, Rachel (February 9, 2023). "FCC Approves Amazon Kuiper Orbital Debris Plan, Clearing Way for Deployment". Via Satellite. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Berger, Eric (April 5, 2022). "Jeff Bezos and Amazon just hired everybody but SpaceX for Project Kuiper". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Amazon secures 3 launches with SpaceX to support Project Kuiper deployment". US About Amazon. December 1, 2023. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (July 8, 2019). "Amazon plans nationwide broadband — with both home and mobile service". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019. Kuiper is wholly owned by Amazon, and its president is Rajeev Badyal, a former SpaceX vice president who was reportedly fired because SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was unsatisfied with his company's satellite-broadband progress.
  10. ^ "Elon Musk Fires Multiple Starlink Executives". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  11. ^ "SpaceX Is Lobbying Against Amazon's Internet-Beaming Satellites". Vice. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2019. Amazon is trying to get a waiver to FCC rules that companies like SpaceX and OneWeb had to follow.
  12. ^ Sheetz, Michael (July 30, 2020). "Amazon will invest over US$10 billion in its satellite internet network after receiving FCC authorization". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "Amazon vows to invest US$10B in Kuiper satellites after getting FCC's go-ahead". GeekWire. July 30, 2020. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  14. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (December 15, 2020). "Amazon unveils flat-panel customer terminal for Kuiper constellation". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  15. ^ "Amazon secures United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets for Project Kuiper". About Amazon. April 19, 2021. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Amazon contracts nine Atlas 5 missions for Kuiper broadband satellites". SpaceNews. April 19, 2021. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  17. ^ Marks, Paul (April 6, 2022). "What does Amazon's attempt to dominate space mean for everyone else?". New Scientist. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (August 31, 2023). "Lawsuit claims Amazon's board erred in awarding Kuiper launch contracts to Blue Origin and others". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  19. ^ Clark, Stephen (August 7, 2023). "Amazon shifts launch of its first Internet satellites to Atlas V rocket". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  20. ^ "Atlas V rocket launches Amazon's 1st 2 internet satellites to orbit (Video)". Space.com. October 6, 2023. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  21. ^ "Amazon shares an update on how Project Kuiper's test satellites are performing". October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  22. ^ Foust, Jeff (January 8, 2024). "Vulcan Centaur launches Peregrine lunar lander on inaugural mission". Spacenews. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  23. ^ "Ariane 6 standing tall". www.esa.int. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  24. ^ Weise, Karen; Chang, Kenneth (April 28, 2025). "Amazon Launches First 27 Project Kuiper Internet Satellites". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  25. ^ "ICFS Application Summary - ICFS Portal". fccprod.servicenowservices.com. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  26. ^ "https://x.com/MicahMaidenberg/status/2017364803728114043". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved January 30, 2026. }: External link in |title= (help)
  27. ^ Henry, Caleb (July 8, 2019). "Amazon lays out constellation service goals, deployment and deorbit plans to FCC". SpaceNews. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  28. ^ "Amazon's Project Kuiper demonstrates safe, controlled satellite maneuvering on orbit". www.aboutamazon.com. November 9, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  29. ^ "Amazon's Project Kuiper completes successful tests of optical mesh network in low Earth orbit". US About Amazon. December 14, 2023. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  30. ^ Thompson, Loren. "Amazon's Kuiper Orbital Internet System Will Include Important National Security Features". Forbes. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  31. ^ "Amazon Leo: High-speed Internet Wherever You Call Home". leo.amazon.com. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
  32. ^ Henry, Caleb (December 18, 2019). "Amazon moving Project Kuiper team to new R&D headquarters". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  33. ^ "Amazon expands satellite manufacturing at newly acquired Project Kuiper facility". US About Amazon. October 27, 2022. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  34. ^ Rosenblatt, Lauren (May 14, 2024). "Amazon's satellite internet network Project Kuiper plans new Everett facility". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  35. ^ "Atlas V Project Kuiper Protoflight". www.ulalaunch.com. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  36. ^ "Atlas V Kuiper 1". www.ulalaunch.com. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  37. ^ "Atlas V Kuiper 2". www.ulalaunch.com. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  38. ^ "Amazon Leo (KF-01) | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Next Spaceflight". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  39. ^ "Latest Kuiper mission updates: Next Kuiper mission set for July 16". Amazon. June 10, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  40. ^ "Falcon 9 Block 5 | Project Kuiper (KF-02)". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  41. ^ "Atlas V Kuiper 3". www.ulalaunch.com. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  42. ^ "Amazon Leo (KF-03) | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Next Spaceflight". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  43. ^ "Atlas V Amazon Leo 4". www.ulalaunch.com. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  44. ^ JOSEPH-GABRIEL, Daphné (January 15, 2026). "Arianespace to launch first batch of Amazon Leo satellites with the first Ariane 64, on February 12, 2026". Newsroom Arianespace. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  45. ^ "https://x.com/Amazonleo/status/2017282291567853938". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved January 30, 2026. }: External link in |title= (help)
  46. ^ Staff, Amazon (December 9, 2025). "Amazon Leo and Arianespace set sail for first launch on Ariane 6". www.aboutamazon.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  47. ^ "ULA begins de-stacking Vulcan rocket, pivots to Atlas 5 launch of Amazon's Kuiper satellites for first 2025 mission". Spaceflight Now. February 7, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  48. ^ Berger, Eric (June 30, 2025). "The second launch of New Glenn will aim for Mars". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
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