Amazon Leo (previously Project Kuiper) will launch mid-2026, in accordance with Andy Jassy. On Wednesday, the Amazon CEO dropped the information in his annual letter to shareholders. The corporate says Leo will help obtain speeds as much as 1 Gbps. By comparability, Starlink’s obtain speeds sometimes range between 45 and 280 Mbps.
Jassy did not specify whether or not the mid-2026 launch date will embody shopper availability. (An Amazon spokesperson advised Engadget that the corporate doesn’t have extra element so as to add proper now.) We do know that “choose enterprise prospects” started testing the high-speed satellite tv for pc service late final yr. Delta and JetBlue have already signed on to make use of Leo for in-flight Wi-Fi. Different companies placing offers embody AT&T, Vodafone, DirecTV Latin America and NASA.
At any time when it does arrive for shoppers, Amazon Leo might supply a number of perks in comparison with Starlink. It can allegedly supply six to eight instances quicker uplink efficiency and double the obtain speeds than opponents (learn: Starlink). Amazon says it can additionally price much less and supply native AWS integration for enterprise knowledge storage, analytics and AI.
Regardless of these perks, it might be some time earlier than Leo can ship Musk-free satellite tv for pc web on a big scale. The service is at the moment not on time, with solely 241 satellites working in its constellation. (Starlink has over 10,000.) In January, Amazon asked the FCC for an extension on a July 2026 deadline requiring it to have 1,600 satellites in orbit. The corporate mentioned on the time that it anticipated solely round 700 to be working by that deadline.
