Amazon earlierAnnounceAmazon has officially renamed its satellite communications network project, "Project Kuiper," to "Amazon Leo." This new name clearly reflects the fact that its network consists of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
This move also means that after a long development period, the project, which started in 2019, is finally ready to shed its "project" designation and become a formal Amazon-branded product.
Launched in 2019, the project aims to deploy 3000 satellites to cover the globe.
When Amazon introduced Project Kuiper in 2019, its ambitious goal was to provide services to areas around the world lacking reliable internet access by deploying a constellation of more than 3000 satellites, with an expected coverage of 95% of the world's population.
However, the actual progress of the project has been relatively slow. Although Amazon has launched prototype satellites, detailed its space laser mesh network plan, and demonstrated user terminal antennas, it was not until April of this year that it actually launched the first batch of 27 satellites in its constellation.
Starlink is in the lead, while Amazon Leo still has a long way to go.
In contrast, its main competitor, SpaceX's Starlink, is expanding much faster. Starlink launched its beta service as early as 2020 and has been rapidly expanding since then. Currently, SpaceX is not only partnering to promote satellite messaging services but also actively forming alliances with airlines to provide in-flight internet services.
Renaming Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo signifies that Amazon is finally ready to operate its satellite network as a standalone product, but there is still much to catch up on.
Listing Information
Amazon has not yet announced when its satellite network service will be widely available to individual and business users, but interested users can register on the Amazon Leo website to receive further updates.
