Elon Musk has long dominated the internet-providing satellites business with regular SpaceX Starlink launches. Now, Jeff Bezos is looking to compete with Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
What Atlas V, Amazon rocket launch looked like in Palm Beach County
Atlas V rocket liftoff April 28, 2025, sent Kuiper satellites into low-earth orbit. The “Amazon rocket launch” was seen in Palm Beach County, Florida.
- Amazon’s Project Kuiper intends to one day provide high-speed internet to customers around the world with more than 80 planned launches to deploy more than 3,200 satellites.
- The first launch took place April 28 from Florida, and the next launch planned for June 16 would double the Kuiper satellites in orbit to 54.
- The Kuiper initiative is a direct challenge to Elon Musk, whose SpaceX company has delivered more than 7,000 Starlink satellites to orbit since 2019.
For years, billionaire Elon Musk has dominated the internet-providing satellite business with his ever-growing Starlink constellation.
Since 2019, SpaceX’s famous Falcon 9 rocket has been regularly delivering to orbit batch after batch of Starlink satellites from launch sites in Florida and California. And since 2019, the venture has essentially gone unchallenged.
But that’s beginning to change.
As of late April, rival billionaire Jeff Bezos has officially entered the broadband network market following the inaugural launch into orbit of Amazon’s internet-beaming satellites. Known as Project Kuiper, the initiative is a subsidiary of the online commerce behemoth that has made Bezos one of the richest men alive.
Now, after delivering the first batch of 27 Kuiper satellites on April 28, Amazon is looking to deploy even more.
The upcoming launch, once again contracted with the Colorado-based United Launch Alliance, could get off the ground as early as Monday, June 16, from Florida. While a successful mission would double the number of Kuiper satellites Amazon has deployed, the company still has a long way to go until some 3,200 total planned satellites are operating in low-Earth orbit.
Here’s what to know about how Bezos expects Amazon to compete with Musk and Starlink with Project Kuiper, which could begin delivering service to customers by late 2025.
What is Project Kuiper? Amazon builds satellite constellation
Amazon’s Project Kuiper intends to one day provide high-speed internet to customers around the world. To achieve that goal, the company has begun building a constellation of satellites linked to a global network of antennas, fiber and internet connection points on the ground.
That endeavor officially began in April with a mission known as Kuiper Atlas 1 (KA-01) – named both for the Kuiper satellites and the Atlas V rocket that delivered them to low-Earth orbit. The famous Atlas V rocket is developed and operated by the United Launch Alliance (ULA,) a launch service provider that is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The satellites – Amazon’s largest deployment to date – were significantly upgraded following an October 2023 launch of two prototype Kuiper satellites, according to the company.
Amazon’s $10 billion plans for Project Kuiper include a $140 million, 100,000-square-foot processing plant at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center that will prep Project Kuiper’s satellites for launch from the Cape.
Amazon has touted the service as one that will benefit “unserved and underserved communities” in rural areas where internet access may be elusive.
What is Starlink? Jeff Bezos, Amazon to compete with Elon Musk
The venture would provide a dose of competition to Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who founded SpaceX in 2002.
Musk’s commercial spaceflight company has long led the way in satellite launches, having launched more than 7,000 operational Starlink satellites into orbit since 2019.
The launches, making use of SpaceX’s famous two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, have become routine in Florida and California. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, even gave SpaceX the greenlight to increase its Falcon 9 rocket launches from 36 per year to 50 from Southern California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
When is the next ULA launch of Kuiper satellites from Florida?
A delivery of another 27 Amazon Kuiper satellites could take place as soon as Monday, June 16.
Another ULA Atlas V rocket is due to launch as early as 1:25pm ET from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Once again, the Atlas V will be equipped with five solid rocket boosters for added liftoff power in addition to its main booster to accommodate the heaviest payload it’s ever flown. For that reason, there’s a chance people in states well beyond Florida could see the launch vehicle soar into the sky.
Following liftoff, the rocket will deploy the satellites at an altitude of 280 miles above Earth. The satellites then autonomously use their electric propulsion systems to ascend to 392 miles high, where they can orbit Earth once every 90 minutes, according to Amazon.
That’s also around the time when Amazon’s Project Kuiper team takes control from an operations center in Redmond, Washington.
Operating in what’s called low-Earth orbit – an altitude that allows for things like satellites to circle Earth fairly quickly – helps reduce latency and connectivity issues during video calls, gaming and streaming.
What’s next for Amazon’s satellite constellation?
The upcoming launch will be just the second of about 80 in the years ahead as Amazon continues to amass its satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit. If all goes as planned, the company said it expects to “begin delivering service to customers later this year.”
Bezos and Amazon are a long way from catching up to Musk and Starlink, but the first-generation Kuiper satellite system is due to include 3,232 advanced low-Earth orbit satellites. And while Musk is able to take advantage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket – one of the most active in the world – for Starlink deployments, Bezos doesn’t yet have that luxury.
While spaceflight company Blue Origin, which Bezos also owns, develops its massive New Glenn rocket for Kuiper deliveries, Amazon will rely on contracting other launch service providers for Kuiper launches – including SpaceX.
However, United Launch Alliance will deploy a majority of the satellites on its Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur rockets. Amazon is also planning to contract with Arianespace.
ULA could launch up to five more Kuiper missions this year, ULA CEO Tory Bruno told Reuters in an interview in April. Amazon said in a 2020 FCC filing that it could begin service in some northern and southern regions at 578 satellites, with coverage expanding toward Earth’s equator as the company launches more satellites.
Contributing: Rick Neale, FLORIDA TODAY; Reuters
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com