The inaugural batch of 27 Kuiper satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Monday evening, marking Amazon’s long-awaited entry into the satellite broadband market. Project Kuiper, announced in 2019, will ultimately consist of 3,236 small satellites in low-Earth orbit, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers, businesses and governments worldwide.
“Today is a major milestone for Kuiper,” said ULA CEO Tory Bruno, whose joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin venture provided the Atlas V launcher. Amazon now faces the task of meeting a Federal Communications Commission requirement to place 1,618 satellites in orbit by mid-2026. Analysts expect the company to petition for an extension, given its slower start compared with SpaceX.
Over the next eight months, ULA could perform up to five more Kuiper missions, each lofting dozens of satellites into precisely calibrated orbital “shells.” Hours after Monday’s launch, Amazon’s mission operations centre in Redmond, Washington, was due to confirm two-way links with each satellite. “If all goes as planned, we expect to begin delivering service to customers later this year,” an Amazon spokesman said.
Kuiper must catch up with SpaceX, which has already launched more than 8,000 Starlink spacecraft since 2019, boasting over 5 million subscribers across 125 countries. Elon Musk’s vertically integrated operation combines reusable Falcon 9 rockets with rapid satellite manufacturing to sustain weekly deployment cadences. By contrast, Amazon has booked 83 launches across three providers ULA, Arianespace and Blue Origin and will mass-produce its customer terminals, flat discs about the size of a vinyl record, at under $400 each.
Still, Amazon executive chair Jeff Bezos remains bullish: “There’s room for lots of winners,” he told Reuters earlier this year. “I predict Starlink will continue to be successful, and I predict Kuiper will be successful as well.” With rural connectivity gaps still wide and defence customers eyeing resilient LEO networks, both constellations look set for growth and fierce competition in the years ahead.
