By BlueShift | 2025-09-10

Since Amazon launched its first Kuiper internet satellites in April, the online retail and global technology giant has been lining up large commercial and international customers for its connectivity services.

The US company's $10 billion Project Kuiper intends to send 3,200 satellites into low Earth orbit -- roughly half the number currently deployed by rival Starlink.

Of this number, at least 1,600 are expected to be deployed by the end of this year, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

The Kuiper Atlas 1 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the US state of Florida on April 28, carrying an initial 27 satellites into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Project Kuiper has launched more than 100 satellites to date, via four rocket launches, and plans to begin delivering service to initial customers later this year before expanding coverage into a crowded and fast-growing field, AFP reported.

Its satellites join the swelling ranks of low Earth orbit alongside Starlink, Europe's OneWeb, and China's Guowang constellation.

Amazon says it aims to deliver connectivity to "unserved and underserved" customers and communities around the world and improve connectivity for planes, ships and vehicles traveling beyond the reach of traditional networks.

And it has been steadily lining up business.

International expansion

On September 4, JetBlue Airways announced it would become the first airline to use the Kuiper network to power its in-flight Wi-Fi service, starting in 2027.

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus had previously agreed to integrate Project Kuiper connectivity into the Airbus line-fit and retrofit aircraft catalogue of managed service providers.

Announcing the decision in April, Airbus said the partnership would give its customers the option of using Project Kuiper’s in-fight connectivity service to enrich passengers’ onboard experience and optimize flight operations.

The project's aviation-specific customer terminal is based on its most powerful Kuiper terminal -- a full-duplex, Ka-band phased array antenna that can support download speeds up to 1 Gbps on a single device, according to Amazon.

In late August, media outlets reported that Amazon was seeking to deploy its Kuiper satellite services in Vietnam via a five-year pilot program that would target consumer, business and government subscribers.

Amazon has pledged to invest $570 million by 2030 to build infrastructure in Vietnam, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology.

This includes up to six ground stations and terminal manufacturing in the northern province of Bac Ninh through local partnerships, Reuters reported.

The company has established a Vietnamese entity in Ho Chi Minh City, Amazon Kuiper Vietnam Co., Ltd., that aims to deliver broadband internet services to underserved areas in remote regions and on islands.

The Vietnamese government also has authorized US company Starlink to operate a similar scheme, according to Reuters.

Supporting infrastructure

To support its burgeoning satellite constellation, Amazon officially opened a payload processing facility at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in July that prepares satellites for their upcoming launches into orbit.

"We have secured more than 80 launches to deploy our initial satellite constellation, using a combination of rockets from Arianespace, Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance," Amazon said in a July 24 statement.

Having a dedicated payload processing facility near the launch site "means we can streamline satellite processing, integration, and encapsulation work, and move more quickly from the factory to the launch pad," the company said.

"At full capacity, the new site will be able to process more than 100 satellites per month and support three simultaneous launch campaigns," it added.

Construction is under way on an adjacent, secondary support site at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center that will provide additional space to process and store flight hardware ahead of launch.

This will enable "a regular cadence of missions to deploy Project Kuiper’s satellite constellation," the company said.

In addition to serving commercial and international customers, the project is hoping to further the the advancement of astronomical science, via an agreement signed June 26 with the US National Science Foundation.

"We’ve been engaged with the astronomy community since the initial design and development of Project Kuiper," the project's head of international spectrum management and strategy Chris Hofer said in a statement.

"This agreement underscores our commitment to responsible space operations and our belief that satellite broadband and ground-based astronomy can successfully coexist," he said.