Amazon's Starlink rival Leo crossed the threshold for commercial service early Thursday, after a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket delivered 29 satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral. The launch pushed Amazon's constellation past 390 satellites, giving the company "enough to support continuous service across initial latitudes," according to Chris Weber, vice president of business and product for Amazon Leo. The milestone sets up a mid-2026 commercial debut for Leo, Amazon's long-delayed answer to SpaceX's dominant Starlink network.
But "initial service" comes with major caveats. Amazon's first-gen Leo constellation is designed for 3,232 satellites, meaning the current fleet covers only a fraction of the planned footprint.
Early coverage will be limited to specific geographic bands, and service could be intermittent until more satellites come online. Weber acknowledged the work ahead, noting that the newly deployed satellites still need to be raised to their operational altitude of 392 miles.
The launch also marked the final Atlas V mission for Project Kuiper (now branded Leo). ULA's Atlas V has carried roughly 60% of Amazon's satellites to orbit, but future missions will shift to ULA's new Vulcan heavy-lift rocket, which can carry more than 40 satellites per launch and fly more frequently.
Amazon is also counting on Blue Origin's New Glenn vehicle, which can haul more than 48 satellites at once. That timeline took a hit in May, when New Glenn's launchpad exploded during a hotfire test, delaying all missions slated for the rocket.
Blue Origin has been building a replacement pad and aims to fly New Glenn by the end of the year. The gap between Amazon and SpaceX remains vast. Starlink launched its "Better Than Nothing Beta" in October 2020 with nearly 900 satellites already in orbit, and today operates more than 10,000 satellites serving over 10 million subscribers across 160 countries.
Amazon's Leo has yet to sign its first consumer customer.
Amazon began offering an enterprise preview of Leo to select businesses in November, but has not disclosed consumer pricing or a firm launch date for its three planned dish terminals. CEO Andy Jassy has teased that Leo will offer better upload performance than Starlink, though real-world comparisons will have to wait until the service goes live. The next Leo mission will use ULA's Vulcan rocket, which Amazon says will carry larger payloads and help accelerate deployment.
"With hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing by at the Cape and a new, dedicated vertical integration facility ready to support Leo Vulcan 1," said Melissa Wuerl, Amazon Leo Director of Launch Systems. The company has "a clear path to increase launch and deployment cadence."
