A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rests on a launch pad carrying Amazon’s Project Kuiper Internet Network satellite, which is expected to eventually rival Elon Musk’s Starlink system, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 9, 2025.
Steve Nessius | Reuters
Amazon asked the Federal Communications Commission for more time to meet a deadline mandating the deployment of approximately 1,600 internet satellites by July 2026.
The company needs more satellites to come online so it can begin offering internet service from space, recently rebranded as Amazon Leo. The company has earmarked at least $10 billion to build the network.
The company said in a filing released Friday that delays outside Amazon’s control, including a “short-term lack of availability” of the rocket, necessitated the extension. Amazon also cited manufacturing disruptions, failures and groundings of new launch vehicles, and limited spaceport capacity.
LEO is “manufacturing satellites significantly faster than other satellites are being launched,” the company wrote.
The company is currently seeking a 24-month extension, through July 2028, or a waiver of the deadline by which the FCC would require Amazon to operate about half of its 3,236 low-lying satellites.
In 2019, Amazon announced plans to build a constellation of low-Earth satellites. They are designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet to consumers, businesses, and governments, and provide connectivity through square terminals.
Amazon has booked more than 100 launches to deploy dozens of satellites at a time. The company said in its filing that it purchased 10 more launches from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and 12 more vehicles from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space exploration startup Blue Origin.
The company said many of its partners achieved significant launch milestones with their respective rockets last year.
“Despite this progress, the development schedule for these next-generation vehicles has extended beyond our initial expectations, contributing to the delayed introduction of Amazon Leo,” the company wrote.
Amazon has launched more than 150 satellites since April. The company said it expects to have about 700 satellites deployed by July 30, “moving from the third to the second largest constellation of satellites in orbit.” The next launch is scheduled for February 12, when Amazon will launch 32 more satellites into space on a rocket made by French company Arianespace.
Leo’s main rival is SpaceX’s Starlink, which has more than 9,000 satellites in orbit and about 9 million customers. Another challenger, OneWeb, is operated by France’s Eutelsat and has a constellation of more than 600 satellites.
In November, Amazon released an “enterprise preview” of Leo to a limited number of users ahead of a broader commercial launch.
Amazon said the FCC’s refusal to grant an extension would “undermine” the agency’s goals of expanding spectrum access and facilitating “rapid deployment.” The company also noted that authorities had previously granted similar extensions.
“Amazon Leo is in full-scale implementation and stands on the threshold of offering competitive and innovative new services to U.S. customers,” the company said. “An extension would allow this rapid and sustained rollout to continue, but strict enforcement would halt or halt this effort.”
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