Amazon Launches Project Kuiper to Rival Starlink

Prime Highlights

Amazon launched 27 Project Kuiper satellites, marking the beginning of its global broadband network to challenge SpaceX’s Starlink.
Full-service will be live by late 2025, with more than 3,200 satellites being launched into low Earth orbit.

Key Facts

The launch was on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Amazon must launch a minimum of 1,618 satellites by mid-2026 according to U.S. FCC rules.

Key Background

Amazon deployed the initial functional satellites of Project Kuiper, a multibillion-dollar program to build out a satellite internet constellation to challenge Elon Musk’s Starlink. The historic debut deployed 27 satellites into orbit and paves the way for what will end up being a 3,236-satellite network, set to enable global high-speed internet coverage, especially in rural and underserved communities.

This is a major milestone for Amazon, which has invested heavily—more than $10 billion, one report said—into the Kuiper program. After initial delays and a previous April weather scrub, the mission took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. The launch marks Amazon’s shift from testing satellites to produce and deploy.

The Kuiper initiative, begun in 2019, is an extension of Amazon’s greater plans in the communications universe. To keep its license, with approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the firm must have half its satellite constellation, 1,618 satellites, launched into space by July 2026. To hit that target date, Amazon has reserved 83 launches from various aerospace suppliers such as ULA, Arianespace, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

While Starlink currently dominates the satellite internet industry with more than 8,000 satellites launched and millions of users globally, Amazon’s goal is to use its global cloud infrastructure and supply chain knowledge to provide a competitive solution. Amazon also stated that it will provide low-cost user terminals for less than $400 to encourage usage.

With its business offerings set to begin later in 2025, Project Kuiper will be an important competitor in the fight to bring quick, secure internet to the whole world, Amazon’s most ambitious undertaking yet into the space and telecommunications markets.