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Amazon’s Starlink competitor Leo gets a new date
Tech Close Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Tech Science Close Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Science Amazon Close Amazon Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Amazon Amazon’s Starlink competitor Leo gets a new date Better late than never for the Elon Musk alternative. Better late than never for the Elon Musk alternative. by Thomas Ricker Close Thomas Ricker Deputy Editor Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Thomas Ricker Apr 9, 2026, 12:53 PM UTC Link Share Gift An Amazon Leo terminal being installed. Image: Amazon Thomas Ricker Close Thomas Ricker Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Thomas Ricker is a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says the company’s space-internet service Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper) will “ launch in mid-2026 .” I’m going to assume that means proper commercial availability since the company already announced the start of an “ enterprise preview ” at the end of 2025, when the service was supposed to originally launch. Unlike SpaceX’s Starlink service, Amazon doesn’t (yet) have its own fleet of rockets to regularly send Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit. That’s meant hitching rides with a variety of launch partners, including SpaceX, until Jeff Bezos’s own reusable New Glenn rocket is fully operational. Amazon has FCC approval for 3,236 Leo satellites, but has only launched 241 so far, well below its commitment to have half (1,618) of its constellation deployed by July 2026. As such, Amazon has had to beg FCC Chair Brendan Carr for an extension. For comparison, SpaceX’s active Starlink constellation currently totals over 10,000 satellites. Whenever the Leo service does finally go live, Jassy says it will be faster than existing services and cost less, with the added benefit of integrating seamlessly with AWS so that businesses and governments can “move data back and forth for storage, analytics, and AI.” Late as it is, there are many individuals, enterprises, and nations just waiting on an Elon Musk alternative that can be installed quickly and economically to fill gaps in global data coverage, even if it does mean casting their lot with another problematic billionaire. Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Thomas Ricker Close Thomas Ricker Deputy Editor Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Thomas Ricker Amazon Close Amazon Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Amazon Science Close Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Science Space Close Space Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Space SpaceX Close SpaceX Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All SpaceX Tech Close Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Tech Work anywhere Close Work anywhere Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Work anywhere Most Popular Most Popular Continuous glucose monitoring made me continuously crazy The vibes are off at OpenAI I finally get the iPhone Air The only USB-C AA battery I’d buy for myself is the Zepath 3600 Amazon is ending support for older Kindles and Kindle Fires The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad
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