Project Kuiper: Amazon’s Satellite Internet Provider

As of early 2024, 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 as well as launching the first wave of satellites, this program isn’t slated to begin until late 2024 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.

Project Kuiper is an up-and-coming low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet service provider set to launch more than 3,200 satellites over the next five years to offer internet worldwide.

Project Kuiper promises to deliver broadband speeds—which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defined as at least 25 Mbps. If you’re in a rural area or a digital nomad, watch Amazon’s upcoming internet service. The tech giant is already gaining momentum toward fulfilling their promise.

In fact, with the United Launch Alliance (ULA), Amazon launched a pair of prototype satellites using the Atlas V rocket, according to Amazon. The October 2023 launch and test of the KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 satellites was a crucial proof-of-concept win for the project, indicating that Amazon can meet its 2029 deadline and provide the services promised.

According to Amazon, the test of Project Kuiper optical inter-satellite link (OISL) technology was able to sustain consistent transmission speeds, which means that its first wave of satellites will be ready to link up when launched. The goal is for their network of satellites to create a global spanning mesh with lower latency and transmission speeds to rival terrestrial fiber optics.

Check out our satellite internet service comparison below if you need reliable satellite internet.

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 doesn't offer a phone number and buries its email. Even at its lowest priority data tier, unlimited data is a boon in the remote internet space. 

See below for more on Project Kuiper satellites and Starlink (Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk’s space quarrels).

Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite equipment and monthly service costs are still to be determined, but we’re sure Amazon is gunning for Starlink. Knowing that Starlink residential internet is $120 a month, we’d project Amazon internet to be priced similarly—possibly even less if it wants to beat Starlink. 

Amazon, partially owned by Jeff Bezos, does indeed own Project Kuiper, which is why it gets the nickname "Amazon Internet." With financial backing like that, we have reason to believe the Kuiper system will be stable once its satellite constellation is actually up and running—especially when you consider that Amazon’s investing $10 billion into the venture. 

Project Kuiper’s goal is to make satellite broadband internet available worldwide and help shrink the digital divide—or that’s what the company likes to make it sound like. However, like all Amazon services and Amazon web services, Amazon's internet service Project Kuiper's ultimate goal is to make money.

That may not be bad for customers, particularly those impacted negatively by the digital divide. More competition is usually a good thing for customers, especially when it comes to satellite internet, which has had two primary providers (Viasat and Hughesnet) most of its existence, with newcomer Starlink rounding them out to three.

We'll have to see whether Project Kuiper will be good for satellite internet customers or if, in typical Amazon fashion, it attempts to shoot its competitors out of the sky. 

We’ll keep this page updated as more information rolls in, so check back with us in the future.

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.

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 functional internet, so keep a close eye on this page throughout 2024 for all related updates.

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. Amazon's internet service looks sweeter with every update.

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.

Project Kuiper hasn’t revealed how much its satellite internet service will cost for future customers. However, it hopes to create Project Kuiper customer terminals (the home satellite dish customers will use) 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 $599. Amazon's internet service can only thrive if it decides to challenge its solid competition.

Of course, Hughesnet and Viasat don't make you pay for your equipment at all. But those are GEO, not LEO, satellite services--and their speeds and latency lag behind Starlink.

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. 

Amazon recently revealed that it will be releasing three Kuiper dishes (or customer terminals, as it calls them) with its satellite internet service in the future. Amazon satellites will be square and come in three models for residential, portable, and enterprise use.

Project Kuiper's at-home internet will be 11 inches in size and capable of 400 Mbps. Still, the smaller Kuiper dish model will be only 7 inches large, capable of portable internet use, and will be able to deliver up to 100 Mbps.

Amazon’s upcoming LEO satellite internet service is called Project Kuiper. It promises to be competitive and speedy, helping people from rural and underserved communities get and stay connected. However, Amazon's internet service won't be available for a while.

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.

How do you pronounce Kuiper? 

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

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.  

Our SatelliteInternet.com editorial team bases our analyses on research, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. We dig deep to get hard-to-find information on internet plans, fees, and upcoming brand developments. We make this information easy for you to find in one place via our in-depth reviews, and we use our satellite internet industry expertise to analyze the options to help you make the most informed decision for your household.