Summary: Amazon’s satellite internet service, rebranded from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo in November 2025, began its enterprise beta on April 8, 2026, with a commercial launch expected mid-2026, as stated in Andy Jassy’s annual shareholder letter. The service offers three terminal options providing up to 1 Gbps for enterprise customers, with Verizon, AT&T, Vodafone, JetBlue, and NASA among the beta partners. Amazon has about 210 to 241 satellites in orbit but needs 1,618 by July 30, 2026, according to FCC requirements. The company requested a two-year extension and has arranged 22 more launches to meet its goals.
Rebranding and Beta Launch: From Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo
In 2020, Amazon received FCC approval to create a 3,236-satellite low-earth-orbit constellation, and it spent five years building necessary hardware and developing partnerships. The first production satellites launched in April 2025 using an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance, and by November 2025, Amazon had enough satellites in orbit to transition from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo. This rebranding indicates a shift from development to a commercial offering. A business preview was soon launched for select partners, followed by a full enterprise beta on April 8, 2026. Jassy’s annual letter confirmed the commercial release would occur mid-2026, marking Leo as a major company investment alongside Amazon’s $50 billion Trainium chip project. Beta customers include Verizon and AT&T in North America, Vodafone and Vodacom in Europe and Africa, JetBlue for in-flight services, NBN Co in Australia, Vrio in Latin America, NASA, and logistics companies Hunt Energy and Crane Worldwide Logistics.
Terminal Options and Speed Tiers
Amazon designed three terminal models for different market needs without one-size-fits-all compromises. The Leo Nano targets consumers and light enterprise users, measuring seven inches square, weighing 2.2 pounds, and offering 100 Mbps download speed. The Leo Pro serves small businesses and rural operators, is eleven inches square, weighs 5.3 pounds, costs under $400, and provides 400 Mbps. The Leo Ultra is the top-tier enterprise terminal, 20×30 inches, weighing 43 pounds, capable of 1 Gbps download and 400 Mbps upload, suitable for maritime, commercial aircraft, and large campuses. Jassy claims Leo terminals offer six to eight times better uplink and twice the downlink speeds compared to existing satellite internet options, a claim to be tested once commercial services and independent benchmarks begin.
The FCC Deadline and Satellite Launch Challenges
Amazon’s FCC license requires 1,618 of the planned 3,236 satellites to be in orbit by July 30, 2026. By early April 2026, Amazon has 210-241 satellites in orbit, making the deadline unreachable. The company requested a two-year extension from the FCC, citing limited launch vehicle availability. Amazon announced ten more Falcon 9 launch contracts with SpaceX and twelve New Glenn contracts with Blue Origin to address this issue. Beyond Leo, Jeff Bezos is investing heavily in orbital infrastructure, with Blue Origin filing FCC plans for a 51,600-satellite Project Sunrise and a 5,408-satellite TeraWave optical backhaul network. The new launch contracts will manage multiple objectives. The FCC approved Amazon’s Generation 2 constellation in February 2026, allowing a potential network of 7,727 satellites once the launch bottleneck eases. The contracted launch vehicles include Atlas V, Vulcan Centaur (United Launch Alliance), Falcon 9 (SpaceX), Ariane 6 (Arianespace), and New Glenn (Blue Origin).
Competing with Starlink and the Globalstar Strategy
Starlink is a strong competitor, generating $10.6 billion in 2025 with a 54 percent EBITDA margin, serving over 10 million subscribers across 100+ countries with a constellation of 7,600-8,000 satellites. SpaceX is planning for the