GoKawiilAmazon Leo is ready to begin limited internet service later this year, but it's far behind Starlink -- several thousand satellites behind.
Amazon launched 29 more satellites into low-Earth orbit on Thursday, bringing its total to 396 and positioning the company to begin offering internet service to a relatively small customer base. Leo business and product VP Chris Weber posted on X that the company will be able "to support continuous service across initial latitudes."
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 yr, and future missions just add coverage and capacity," he added.
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But Leo is starting a marathon that Starlink began in 2019 with its first launch. Trillionaire Elon Musk's company has about 10,000 satellites in orbit and offers internet coverage to more than 150 countries. Starlink also either has or will have internet service on more than 200 airlines, including United Airlines, Air France, Alaska Airlines and British Airways.
In comparison Leo will only have limited service available to US customers later this year -- coverage and price to be determined later -- and is contracted by two airlines, JetBlue Airways in 2027 and Delta Air Lines in 2028. It will take several years and thousands more satellites launched for Leo to be able to offer widespread coverage in the US and elsewhere.
Of course, underestimate Jeff Bezos and his ability to compete and dominate at your peril.
Satellite internet is a big pie. Grand View Research estimates that the market will grow at a 15% rate from now until 2033, from $13.3 billion in 2026 to $35.7 billion by 2033.
Hans Geerdes, a strategist at R&D firm CableLabs, said Starlink and its rivals pose a major threat to fixed internet service providers such as Xfinity, Verizon Home Internet and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. "I think every fixed broadband operator should be very worried," Geerdes said earlier this year. "It's basically the second coming of fixed wireless, but at much better economics and with very, very aggressive competitive behavior."
Leo eyes faster satellite deployment
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