Project Kuiper: Amazon’s Satellite Internet Provider

Everything we know about Amazon’s Project Kuiper so far and what to expect
Project Kuiper
Amazon
Project Kuiper

• Projected low price
• 25–400 Mbps 
• Projected late 2025

Service not yet available

Starlink
Starlink
Starlink
4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1

• $120.00/mo.
• 20–220Mbps
• Unlimited data

Hughesnet
HughesNet
Hughesnet
3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3

• $74.99–$119.99/mo.*
• 50–100Mbps
• 100–200GB/mo.

Viasat
Viasat
Viasat
3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7

• $119.99/mo.
• 25–150Mbps
• Unlimited data

*$25 off for the first 12 months. 24-month commitment required.


Andreas Rivera
Jun 17, 2025
Icon Time To Read7 min read

Amazon is joining the race to close the digital divide with a new satellite internet service. The online retail giant is entering the broadband industry with Project Kuiper. Amazon says Project Kuiper’s main aim is to provide internet connectivity to underserved rural communities. It will take on SpaceX’s already established Starlink service, which is popular among rural customers. 

More competition is usually a good thing for customers, especially when it comes to satellite internet, which has only three primary providers in the U.S.—Hughesnet, Starlink, and Viasat. Project Kuiper still has a ways to go before it’s ready to compete, but after several years of development and preparation, it’s finally gaining momentum with the launch of its first batch of satellites.

Project Kuiper has plenty of similarities to Starlink, but wants to standout with its technology and competitive pricing.

When will Project Kuiper launch?

Amazon’s Project Kuiper is moving forward with ambitions to 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, which has so far been off to a slow start. 

Amazon reached a significant milestone in May 2025 with the successful launch of its first batch of satellites. It plans to launch its satellite constellation throughout 2025 and roll out service later in the year. It has faced delays due to launch scheduling shake-ups with the United Launch Alliance (ULA). 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.

Project Kuiper staff prepping the first payload of low-Earth orbit satellites. It's the first of more than 80 launches the company is planning on. | Image by Amazon

How do I sign up for Project Kuiper?

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.

However, if you’re intent on being an early adopter, Amazon recommends you contact them directly to show your interest at this email address. Also, 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.

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How much will Project Kuiper cost?

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 announced that Project Kuiper's home equipment will come in three varieties with very different use cases. | Image by Amazon

How fast will Project Kuiper internet be?

Amazon claims Project Kuiper satellite internet will offer up to 400 Mbps and hopes to offer 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. 

Of course, raw download speed and throughput aren’t everything. Latency has a significant impact on speed and slows 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.

What separates Project Kuiper from Starlink?

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 which 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.

Project Kuiper vs Starlink hardware

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 biggest difference is that Amazon’s offerings are smaller, with the exception of high-performance equipment.

Project Kuiper "standard" dish

Starlink Standard dish

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 meant to be used in a fixed location for home internet, but the Starlink Standard can also be used with the portable Roam plan to use it almost anywhere. 

Project Kuiper "ultra compact" dish

Starlink Mini dish

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.

Project Kuiper "high-bandwidth" dish

Starlink High-Performance dish

For business and power-users, Amazon has a high-performance dish which is much larger at 19 inches by 30 inches, vs Starlink’s own High Performance dish, which is 15 inches by 24 inches. 

Project Kuiper vs. Starlink vs. Hughesnet vs. Viasat

Provider
Price
Speed
Data Cap
Details
AmazonProject Kuiper
Projected low price25-400 MbpsData TBD
$120.00/mo.20-220MbpsUnlimited data
$74.99-$119.99/mo.*50–100Mbps100–200GB/mo.
$119.99/mo.25–150MbpsUnlimited data

Actual speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. *$25 off for the first 12 months. 24-month commitment required. After 100 GB of High-Speed Data usage, you still have unlimited access to Standard Data, which may result in slower speed. 

Amazon internet 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 even recently raised its data cap to 200 GB, plus it has Fusion plans that mix 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. 

Check out other satellite internet providers near you

Who will launch Project Kuiper?

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 Kuiper-Sat-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. 

Amazon Kuiper's first two prototype satellites were launched on the Atlas V rocket, run by the United Launch Alliance. Future launches will likely be on the newer Vulcan Centaur rockets.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched the first batch of Project Kuiper's satellites in April. Blue Origin, Arianespace, and SpaceX will also carry the satellites. | Image by Amazon

Should you plan to get Project Kuiper when it’s available?

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. 

Blue Origin is a space tourism company owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. However, it isn’t actually owned by Amazon or Project Kuiper. Blue Origin is, however, one of the three services that’ll be launching Project Kuiper’s satellites into Earth’s orbit. Be ready to wave when it sends its New Glenn launch vehicle up with Kuiper satellites.

Amazon Internet will be comprised of 3,236 satellites by the time it's all put together. Project Kuiper plans to launch the first wave of satellites throughout 2024. Prototypes are the first step to a functional internet, so keep a close eye on this page throughout 2024 for all related updates.

According to its FCC filing, Amazon's Project Kuiper will orbit 370 to 390 miles above the Earth's surface. That means the future constellation will be in a low-earth orbit, much like Starlink, though Project Kuiper will be just a bit higher compared to Starlink's 340-mile-above-earth orbit. 

This is Amazon’s first foray into offering its own internet service. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a big player in modern internet infrastructure, but is not itself an internet provider.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper was named for the Kuiper Belt, a ring-shaped region just beyond Neptune’s orbit that contains icy bodies like Pluto and comets. The Kuiper Belt was named after Gerard Kuiper, the Dutch astronomer who first proposed its existence.

Ky-per. Ky rhymes like the sky, and per is like what a cat does. 

Andreas Rivera
Written by
Andreas Rivera is a lifelong writer with a decade-spanning career in journalism and marketing. He comes to SatelliteInternet.com with several years of experience writing about business and technology. His passion for researching the latest advancements in tech, especially the now essential need for reliable internet access, fuels his goal of educating others about how these innovations affect and improve our everyday lives. When not researching and writing about SatelliteInternet.com, you’ll likely find him buried in a good book or enjoying the great outdoors with a fishing rod.