Amazon’s Project Kuiper initiative is slowly filling the skies with small satellites as it seeks to take on SpaceX’s internet-from-space Starlink service.
Project Kuiper still has a long way to go to catch up with Starlink, which has some 8,000 small satellites in low-Earth orbit, though it doesn’t need that many to be able to launch its initial internet service.
On Thursday morning, Amazon launched another 27 of its Project Kuiper satellites in the KA-03 mission from Cape Canaveral in Florida using an Atlas V rocket operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). You can watch the rocket blasting off the launchpad in the video below.
Amazon says Project Kuiper is aiming to deliver “fast, reliable internet to customers and communities around the world.”
Kuiper is on track to serve five markets — the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, and Germany — by the end of the first quarter of next year, Project Kuiper executive Ricky Freeman said recently, adding that the timeline is a little slower than originally planned.
The company sent its first batch of satellites skyward in April 2025. Its initial constellation will include more than 3,200 satellites deployed in around 80 missions that should be completed by 2029.
To deploy the satellites, Amazon has inked deals with a number of spaceflight companies, including not only ULA but also ArianeGroup, Blue Origin, and even SpaceX, spending more than $10 billion in launch contracts.
Customers who sign up to the Project Kuiper internet service will be asked to choose one of three kinds of user terminals: a compact 7-inch square model for portability (offering up to 100 Mbps), a standard 11-inch model for households (up to 400 Mbps), and a larger model for enterprises (up to 1 Gbps).
Amazon will likely sell its standard customer terminal for about $400, which would make it about $50 more expensive than Starlink’s terminal for residential customers.
It’s also eyeing business customers and recently announced a deal with airline JetBlue to provide Wi-Fi services for passengers.
