Amazon launches Leo: its new name for Project Kuiper space venture
The e-commerce and data center behemoth's low Earth orbit satellite programme is now "Amazon Leo", and its expanding.
Amazon has rebranded its Project Kuiper satellite internet programme as Amazon Leo and expanded its low Earth orbit constellation with 27 satellites.
The company, in an announcement, said it plans to launch more than 80 missions to complete its initial constellation.
It began seven years ago under the code name Project Kuiper, named after the Kuiper Belt (the dense fringe of the solar system that's home to Pluto, and a mass of space debris), and has, in that time progressed from early concept to prototypes, to full production deployment.
Amazon now operates more than 150 satellites in orbit and plans to launch more than 80 missions to complete its initial constellation.
A challenger to Elon Musk's Starlink, Amazon Leo is expected to start rolling out services to users once the network has additional coverage and capacity.
Amazon highlighted that the project includes one of the largest ever satellite production lines, and it will offer what it described as "the first commercial phased-array antenna capable of gigabit speeds".
It listed customers and partners that have signed up to deploy the service, including JetBlue, L3Harris, DIRECTV Latin America, Sky Brasil, and NBN Co.
The Recap
- Amazon renames Project Kuiper programme to Amazon Leo.
- Company says more than 150 satellites are now in orbit.
- Service will roll out after adding coverage and capacity.
