Project Kuiper: Amazon’s Satellite Internet Provider

Amazon's president of Kuiper Government Solutions spoke during a conference and said the Project is on track to begin servicing five countries, including the U.S., starting Q1 of 2026. 

Amazon’s Project Kuiper has previously said it will begin testing its network of satellites before the end of 2025. This goal doesn’t necessarily mean consumers will be able to sign up for the upcoming satellite internet service this year, but there’s a chance early beta testing may begin. It all depends on how quickly Amazon can grow its constellation of low-earth orbit satellites.

As of September 2025, the company has launched more than 100 of its satellites. It has faced delays due to scheduling shake-ups with the United Launch Alliance (ULA) for its launch. However, Amazon is confident it can get its service up and running soon.

Project Kuiper plans to launch more than 3,200 satellites over the next few years to form its low-earth orbit constellation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given the company a 2026 deadline to launch at least half of its planned satellites and 2029 for the rest. So, if you’re a typical home internet user, you can expect to sign up for Amazon’s service by 2029 at the latest. However, there will likely be plenty of opportunities to get in earlier as Amazon builds its network.

As of summer 2025, Amazon does not have a formal sign-up page to participate in the planned beta program. Since Amazon is still in the process of testing and launching the first wave of satellites, this program isn’t slated to begin until late 2025 and is only for commercial users.

Bookmark and follow this page for all the latest news on Project Kuiper. We’ll provide regular updates on launch dates, how to sign up, pricing info, and more.

Project Kuiper hasn’t revealed the price of its satellite internet service for future customers. However, it hopes to keep costs down so it can sell Project Kuiper dishes for less than $400. 

We don’t know for sure, but Amazon Kuiper will likely want to stay competitive with Starlink’s up-front equipment costs, ranging from $349 to $499. Amazon's internet service can only thrive if it decides to challenge its solid competition.

Amazon claims that Project Kuiper satellite internet will offer speeds of up to 400 Mbps and hopes to provide even faster download speeds in the future. That's already faster than what Viasat or Hughesnet offer, and 400 Mbps would give even Starlink's speedy internet service a run for its money. 

Panos Panay, a lead at Amazon's Devices & Services, demonstrated one gigabit download speed using Amazon's Enterprise dish in early September. This test was, of course, with a single terminal connecting to the network without the hundreds of thousands of terminals Amazon hopes to distribute someday.

Of course, raw download speed and throughput aren't everything. Latency has a significant impact on speed, slowing down your internet experience. Project Kuiper's LEO satellites should also help minimize that since, like Starlink's satellites, they'll be closer to Earth. But we'll also have to see how well Kuiper maintains its systems after launch, since LEO satellites require more consistent and constant upkeep than GEO satellites.

Project Kuiper has a lot of similarities to SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. They’re both made possible by a constellation of thousands of LEO satellites. They are both accessed through customer-owned dishes that connect to the constellation, which in turn communicates with ground stations that connect the user to the web. 

A key difference that Amazon boasts makes Project Kuiper special is its satellites’ ability to create a global spanning mesh to boost transmission speeds and lower latency. According to Amazon, its optical inter-satellite link (OISL) technology can sustain consistent transmission speeds, which means that its first wave of satellites will be ready to link up when launched.

Amazon revealed it will be releasing three Kuiper dishes with its satellite internet service in the future. Amazon satellites will be square and come in three models for residential, portable, and enterprise use. The three dishes are analogous to three of Starlink’s equipment, but the most significant difference is that Amazon’s offerings are smaller, with the exception of high-performance equipment.

Project Kuiper's square residential dish is 11 inches by 11 inches in size, according to Amazon. It’s comparable to Starlink’s Standard dish, which is 23 by 15 inches. The dishes are primarily designed for use in a fixed location for home internet, but the Starlink Standard can also be used with the portable Roam plan, allowing it to be used almost anywhere. 

Amazon will also offer a more portable version of the dish that’s only 7 inches by 7 inches, which is comparable to the Starlink Mini dish, which is about 11.5 inches by 10 inches.

For business and power users, Amazon offers a high-performance dish that is significantly larger, measuring 19 inches by 30 inches, compared to Starlink’s own High Performance dish, which is 15 inches by 24 inches. 

Amazon's internet service isn't available right now, so as you can see, Starlink and Viasat have the fastest satellite internet you can get your hands on. As long as you’re getting only Starlink residential satellite internet, it offers the best speed for the price, with Viasat as a close, if expensive, second. 

We highly recommend Hughesnet for its cheaper plans and lack of price hikes. It has recently raised its data cap to 200 GB, and it also offers Fusion plans that combine its satellite technology with fixed wireless to reduce latency.

Starlink is also an excellent LEO satellite service to tide you over until Project Kuiper launches. But be warned, it has expensive equipment prices you have to pay upfront, and Starlink's customer service is notoriously difficult to access since it works off a support ticket system. 

Blue Origin, Arianespace, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) will all help Amazon's Project Kuiper launch its satellites into Earth's orbit. ABL Space Systems was the first company to help Amazon Project Kuiper launch its prototype satellite, and it had plans to help get the KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 prototypes up at the end of 2022, according to Amazon. However, ULA's Vulcan Centaur will not handle Kuiper's first satellite launches in 2023, plus another 38 Kuiper launches in the future.

Blue Origin, Arianespace, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are all prepping Amazon's heavy-lift launch vehicle for the whole satellite-constellation-creating endeavor: Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos's company) will send up New Glenn, Arianespace the Ariane 6, and ULA the Vulcan Centaur (or Vulcan rocket).

To further expedite the rollout of satellites, Project Kuiper also purchased room on three of rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches in 2025, according to Amazon.

Amazon has reserved 83 launches over the next five years with these four companies to get its satellite constellation up, making for the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history. 

Even though Project Kuiper looks promising, with possibly lower equipment prices and satellite constellation coverage that could rival Starlink, Viasat, and Hughesnet, we don't recommend jumping on Project Kuiper the moment it's available.

We suggest holding off on Project Kuiper once it's out for two reasons:

• You want to let Amazon work out the kinks. Every new service runs into unexpected problems once it is released. Let the company work that out while you still (hopefully) have access to an already reliable satellite service, like Viasat or Starlink.
• Just because Amazon owns Project Kuiper doesn't mean it'll work. Amazon has gotten into many different businesses in the past, and while most are successful, not all are. The sheer amount of money Amazon has invested in Project Kuiper makes us hopeful, but we'll need to wait to see if it pays off.

Of course, we'll keep this page updated as we receive more information. There's a lot of time between now and 2029, so check back with us for more details on Project Kuiper in the future.