Amazon has secured a deal to provide in-flight internet service to Delta Air Lines using its Leo satellite network, marking a significant commercial win for the retail and cloud computing giant as it seeks to close the gap on SpaceX's dominant Starlink service.
Leo, which takes its name from low Earth orbit, the band of space in which its satellites operate, will begin providing connectivity to Delta flights in 2028, Amazon said on Tuesday.
The service relies on a constellation of satellites circling the planet at an altitude of 370 miles, which Amazon said places them 50 times closer to Earth than the geostationary satellites that power older in-flight wi-fi systems, reducing the signal delay that has long made airborne internet connections slow and unreliable.
Delta's aircraft will be fitted with antennas capable of supporting download speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second and upload speeds of up to 400 megabits per second, fast enough to support video calls and high-definition streaming services while in the air.
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said the deal demonstrated the scale of what Leo could deliver, adding that the service was "going to change what's possible while travelling" for the tens of millions of passengers who fly Delta each year.
Amazon said it currently has more than 200 satellites in orbit and plans 20 further launches this year, as part of an initial block of 80 launches for its first-generation Leo constellation.
The satellites are being carried into orbit aboard rockets from Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon's executive chairman Jeff Bezos, as well as United Launch Alliance and, notably, SpaceX itself.
Despite the Delta deal, Amazon faces a steep challenge in catching Starlink, which already has thousands of satellites in orbit and has moved well ahead of rivals by developing its own launch capabilities through SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 rocket.
Starlink is already operational on commercial airlines including Southwest and United, and also offers a consumer-level service, giving it a substantial head start as Amazon works to scale its own network.
The deal nonetheless represents a meaningful step for Amazon's satellite ambitions and a rare area of direct competition with Elon Musk's growing space and technology empire.