(Credit: Amazon)
Amazon plans to double its launch frequency and cram more satellites into each rocket as the company races to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Amazon's Leo is supposed to become more widely available later this year. But currently, the system spans just over 200 satellites—too few to kick off a robust satellite internet service. Instead, the company has been beta-testing Leo with select enterprise customers.
Since it flew up its first Leo satellites in April 2025, Amazon has completed eight flights, with a ninth scheduled for Sunday. “The program is on pace to complete 11 launches in our first year of deployment,” the company said in a blog post.
But for year two, Amazon says: “We’re on pace to more than double our annual launch rate to over 20 missions and send even more satellites to space at a time.” This includes using Blue Origin’s New Glenn and United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur, two heavy-lift rockets that can carry even more Leo satellites into space.
Using New Glenn and Vulcan Centaur is risky, given that both rockets have completed only a handful of launches. But if it pays off, then Amazon can launch over 40 satellites per flight, effectively doubling the deployment number.
The company even went as far as to say that “the majority of Leo satellites this year will launch on new heavy-lift rockets,” which also include Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket. Last month, an Ariane 6 flight successfully deployed 32 Leo satellites.
Amazon also says it can now pack 29 Leo satellites on ULA's older Atlas V rocket, up from 27, thanks to a new engine design. “Our engineering teams capitalized on the additional performance margin, adding a fourth level to the previous three-tier dispenser configuration for Atlas V.” The 29-satellite payload is scheduled to fly this upcoming Sunday.
(Credit: Amazon)Amazon's announcement comes ahead of a July 30, 2026, FCC deadline to have half of its 3,200-satellite array operational. It filed for an extension but risks losing authorization to launch the remaining satellites needed for the network. It's unclear how the FCC will rule, but SpaceX is urging the commission to deny the extension.
To prove it’s committed to launching the satellites, Amazon told the FCC it has “more than 100 missions planned through Q1 2029.”
“By July 30, 2026, Amazon Leo expects to have deployed approximately 700 operational satellites—moving from the third-to the second-largest satellite constellation in orbit,” the company told the FCC. “By this date, Amazon Leo also expects to have its customer terminals in the hands of more enterprise and government customers, and to be poised to roll out service more broadly in the US and across the globe.”
This suggests Leo might finally launch to more users in the second half of 2026—assuming it can deploy the necessary satellites on time. For perspective, Starlink became available as a beta to US consumers in late 2020 when the company had over 800 satellites in orbit.
In the meantime, Amazon’s Monday announcement adds that it already has another 200-plus Leo satellites “stacked and ready for launch.”
"Late last year, we secured another 10 launches on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, and we converted options with Blue Origin to give us a total of 24 firm launches on New Glenn," the company said. "Together, those additional missions provide capacity to deploy another 800+ satellites, and bring our total Leo launch manifest to more than 100 missions."