Project Kuiper takes flight, Amazon enters satellite internet race

Amazon officially entered the competitive satellite internet market on Monday with the successful launch of the first 27 operational satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. Following a delay due to unfavourable weather on 9 April, the satellites were launched atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7 PM  EDT.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband network. Its aim is to deliver fast, reliable internet access to users around the world, particularly those in underserved and unserved regions, using a fleet of more than 3,200 LEO satellites.

In addition to the 2023 launch of two Kuipersat prototypes and seven further launches aboard Atlas V rockets, Project Kuiper will utilise the next-generation Vulcan rocket for 38 high-cadence, rapid-fire launches. This strategy will enable ULA to deliver more than half of the constellation’s satellites under what is reportedly the largest commercial launch agreement in history.

In a statement issued on 28 April 2025, ULA said, "As Amazon partners with ULA to deliver a majority of its advanced satellites into low-Earth orbit, the Kuiper 1 launch marks the beginning of full-scale deployment of the Kuiper constellation and a new chapter in the commercial launch industry."

The launch represents a major milestone in Amazon’s USD 10 billion initiative, first announced in 2019, to deploy LEO satellites and provide global broadband internet. The service is aimed at customers, businesses, and government agencies, especially in rural and remote areas where internet access remains limited or unavailable.

Within hours or days of Monday’s launch, the satellites are expected to establish initial contact with Amazon’s mission operations centre in Redmond, Washington. If successful, Amazon plans to begin offering customer services later this year.

Despite entering the market relatively late, Amazon brings several advantages, including its extensive expertise in consumer electronics and its dominant position in cloud computing through AWS, which Project Kuiper intends to integrate with. In 2023, the company unveiled compact Kuiper terminals, with the main model about the size of a vinyl record and a smaller version resembling a Kindle device. Tens of millions are planned for production, with each terminal expected to cost under 400 USD.