Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo: Amazon

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy mentioned the company’s Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation Kuiper in his first letter to shareholders, writing that Kuiper could be a “game changer” for families and businesses underserved by current broadband infrastructure. 

Amazon has FCC approval to launch 3,236 satellites to LEO to provide low latency broadband internet. The company has committed to investing more than $10 billion into the constellation, and just last week signed a huge launch contract with United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Blue Origin to launch the constellation. 

“Kuiper will serve customers with minimal to no fixed broadband connectivity, changing access to information and resources for many communities (analysts estimate approximately 300- 400 million customers globally are in this category),” Jassy wrote. 

Amazon’s constellation will be a direct competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, the OneWeb constellation, and Telesat Lightspeed, which is in development. Starlink currently serves more than 145,000 users in 25 countries and regions with its more than 2,000 satellites, and recently debuted a premium service for enterprise users. OneWeb has 428 satellites in orbit and has activated service at the 50th parallel and above, with early partners initiating service.

LEO broadband constellations also compete with U.S. satellite broadband providers Hughes Network Systems and Viasat, which provide service from satellites in Geostationary Orbit (GEO). 

Jassy said Kuiper is an example of how Amazon continuously iterates to “take the seed of a big idea and make it into something that resonates with customers and meaningfully changes their customer experience over a long period of time.” 

“We’re optimistic that there is a pretty good business model for us too, but we’ll see — and it’s a real game changer for underserved families and businesses that will unfold over many years as we keep evolving its capabilities,” Jassy wrote. 

This was Jassy’s first letter to shareholders after taking the helm at Amazon when founder Jeff Bezos stepped down in 2021, partially to spend more time on space company Blue Origin.