When Will Starlink Rival Project Kuiper Be Available?

Amazon’s Project Kuiper continues to progress toward its goal of launching its satellite internet service by the end of 2025. Project Kuiper is Amazon’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink internet service and uses similar low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology. After several years of development, Amazon says it’s ready to proceed with building its network of satellites that will provide high-speed internet to rural and underserved locations on Earth. 

For about five years, SpaceX’s Starlink has been the only commercially available satellite internet service provider that utilizes a massive constellation of satellites consisting of more than 7,000. The two other satellite internet service providers, Hughesnet and Viasat, have been in service for much longer and use a handful of geostationary satellites. These provide high speeds but also high latency, which affects their overall performance compared to terrestrial internet. 

As of early 2025, there are no concrete timetables for when the service will be available to the public, let alone when they can begin testing it. Amazon has stated that its window to start rolling out service is by late 2025, though that window could change depending on how many satellites it can put into orbit this year. Project Kuiper has already faced multiple delays, but the company is still confident its satellite constellation will start launching and operating throughout 2025.

Amazon is under pressure to launch as many satellites as quickly as it can. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave the company a July 2026 deadline to launch at least half of its planned 3,200 satellite constellation and the rest by 2029. Barring the FCC granting Amazon an extension to this deadline, it risks losing authorization to launch more satellites and faces other regulatory consequences.  

Despite the setbacks, Amazon can meet these deadlines. Looking back at Starlink’s launch history, it was able to launch a similar amount of satellites within a year. So, if Amazon can consistently launch satellites and avoid more road bumps, it should be able to comply with the FCC. However, it needs to start launching soon.

Amazon is ready to launch its first batch of satellites, which will be carried by the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V spacecraft in Q1 2025. The first satellites are already at the company’s facility near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ready to be loaded on the Atlas V. There is currently no set launch date, and it is also unknown how many satellites the Atlas V will carry. 

Beyond the inaugural launch, Amazon says it has purchased 80 launches from multiple space companies, including SpaceX, the United Launch Alliance, France’s Arianespace, and Blue Origin. Owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin could be leveraged to take on a bulk of the workload, especially after a successful test launch of its New Glenn rocket in January.

So far, Starlink has been the only LEO satellite internet service provider for U.S. customers. Its low latency and DIY setup set it apart from the other satellite internet providers. Amazon’s Project Kuiper uses similar technology, using self-install terminals to connect to a network of satellites. 

Once Project Kuiper gets up and running, it’ll be a major competitor to Starlink, which, thus far, has faced little competition. It’s unknown how much Project Kuiper will cost, but Amazon has stated it will be competitively priced, which could signal to Starlink to adjust its pricing. 

There are still a lot of unknowns with Project Kuiper, but more details will be revealed as Amazon builds out its satellite constellation, such as price and how fast its internet will be.