Amazon's satellite internet service Leo to be released mid-year
With its satellite internet service Leo, Amazon aims to compete with Starlink. The launch has been delayed. It is expected to take place in a few months.
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US internet giant Amazon is close to releasing its satellite service Leo. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced this in an annual letter to shareholders.
Leo is set to launch in mid-year, Jassy writes. Amazon had already announced a launch of the satellite internet service for a few selected test users in the fall of last year.
Amazon has already secured commitments from companies and governments. Just recently, US airline Delta Air Lines announced it would source internet for 500 aircraft from Leo in the future. Other customers include NASA, US airline Jetblue, and telecommunications companies AT&T, Vodafone, and Australia's National Broadband Network.
Third-largest constellation in LEO
According to Jassy, Amazon has already launched over 200 satellites into space. This makes Leo currently the third-largest constellation in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In the coming years, the constellation is expected to grow to several thousand.
However, Amazon is behind its own schedule: Following approval from the US regulatory authority Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 1618 Leo satellites are to be in orbit by the end of July this year. This is about half of the total constellation, which is planned to consist of 3236 satellites. Amazon has therefore requested a 24-month extension from the FCC. Recently, the company announced an increase in launch cadence and satellite production.
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When Leo is available, the service will be "about six to eight times better on uplink, and two times better on downlink" than what users get with other services, according to Jassy. In addition, Leo is said to be cheaper than the competition and, as a third advantage, offers seamless integration into Amazon's cloud service AWS, Jassy writes.
(wpl)
