Amazon’s Project Kuiper has officially launched, sending 27 satellites into low Earth orbit. This marks a pivotal step in Amazon’s ambitious $10 billion initiative to deploy 3,236 satellites to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband to unserved and underserved communities worldwide.
Amazon is now in direct competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink, which dominates the market with over 8,000 satellites and 5 million users across 125 countries.
Kuiper’s potential extends beyond consumers. Partnerships with Vodafone and Vodacom in Europe and Africa, and DirectTV Latin America in South America, aim to extend 4G/5G networks. The system’s resilience could aid disaster response, deploying terminals quickly to restore connectivity. Governments are wary of Starlink’s dominance and Musk’s influence, evident in Poland’s and Taiwan’s interest in alternatives, and are eyeing Kuiper as a counterbalance.