Amazon to Begin Consumer Internet Service Later This Year

Amazon has enough satellites in orbit to begin rolling out Amazon Leo, the company’s broadband service, Bloomberg reported Thursday (July 2).

The company gained another 29 satellites, bringing the total deployment to more than 390, when a United Launch Alliance rocket delivered them into orbit, according to the report.

The report cited a post on X in which Chris Weber, vice president of business and product for Amazon Leo, said the satellite deployment means that Amazon has “completed enough launches for initial service” this year.

“Still lots of work ahead — including raising all these new satellites to their assigned altitude — but we’ve completed enough launches for initial service this [year], and future missions just add coverage and capacity,” Weber said in the post.

Amazon Leo was formerly known as Project Kuiper. The company changed its name about seven months ago while retaining the same mission, it said at the time in a post on LinkedIn.

“Follow along as we prepare to deliver fast, reliable internet beyond the reach of existing networks,” the company said in the post.

Amazon announced in October 2023 that it launched the first prototypes for its Project Kuiper satellite internet system and was moving forward in its plan to create a global satellite internet network.

In April, the company said it plans to expand the capabilities of Amazon Leo by acquiring mobile satellite services operator Globalstar.

United Launch Alliance announced the latest launch in a Thursday press release and said it has delivered 224 of the more than 375 satellites Amazon Leo has in place.

Amazon said in a Thursday press release that Amazon Leo began full-scale deployment of its satellite constellation in April 2025 and now has the third-largest constellation in orbit.

Melissa Wuerl, director of launch systems for Amazon Leo, said in the release: “With hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing by at the Cape and a new, dedicated vertical integration facility ready to support Leo Vulcan 1 and subsequent missions, we have a clear path to increase launch and deployment cadence, helping us quickly expand network coverage following an initial service rollout later this year.”