Amazon’s Project Kuiper Launches First Full Batch of Low-Earth Orbit Satellites
April 29th, 2025Via: Tom’s Hardware:
This deployment will just be the first of many, especially as the company has previously sought permission to launch 3,236 satellites to deliver internet services around the globe. It took six years for Amazon to go from applying for permits from the FCC to launching its satellites, and it will probably take a few more years before it can fully launch the rest of its planned constellation. We will also likely have to wait a few more months before Amazon starts offering satellite internet services to its customers — after all, it took Starlink about one year and five months after the initial launch of its satellites before it could offer subscriptions.
Amazon said that it hopes to deliver internet services to millions of underserved customers globally, meaning it will compete directly against Starlink. However, Musk started earlier than Bezos, with SpaceX launching satellites for Starlink just as Project Kuiper was getting permits from the FCC in 2019. It also has a much larger constellation, with over 7,000 satellites already in low-earth orbit at the time of writing (and plans for 35,000 more).
