(Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
The Federal Communications Commission is waiving a July 30 deadline for Amazon to deploy half of its Leo satellite internet constellation, offering relief to the upcoming Starlink competitor.
On Friday, the FCC granted the effective extension after Amazon told the US regulator it would miss the deadline to launch half of 3,232 satellites by the end of July, citing past delays with securing rocket capacity and its satellite redesign efforts.
Without the extension, Amazon would lose regulatory clearance to launch any new satellites for the first-generation constellation, diminishing its broadband coverage. The Leo system currently spans about 330 satellites, and the FCC is requiring Amazon to deploy the entire first-gen constellation by July 30, 2029, meaning the company needs to pick up the slack soon.
However, in the meantime, the commission waived the mid-deployment milestone, saying the decision “serves the public interest by promoting a second large satellite broadband constellation,” alongside SpaceX’s Starlink, its main competitor.
“Amazon Leo’s service promises to be ‘groundbreaking,’ both in quality of service and affordability for consumers,” the commission wrote, later adding: “In this case, strict adherence to the rules would curtail Amazon Leo’s deployment of its Gen1 constellation by limiting the service it can provide to American consumers. Such would be contrary to the Commission’s mandate under the Communications Act.”
Still, the FCC imposed a notable condition on the waiver to ensure that Amazon deploys the satellites as soon as possible. The company will temporarily lose the “priority status” for any satellites deployed after July 30, 2026.
(Credit: Amazon)Losing that status means any new Leo satellites launched after July 30 are supposed to show they can operate "compatibly with, and protect" other low-Earth satellite systems authorized in earlier processing rounds, or in this case, Starlink. The FCC rule was designed to prevent radio signal interference from directional antennas.
Despite the condition, Leo will regain the priority status either on the date it “deploys and operates 50% of its constellation,” or by March 30, 2028—20 months after the original July deadline. The company can also reduce the period to 15 months (Oct. 30, 2027) if Amazon certifies that all the satellites necessary to reach the 50% milestone have been constructed and the required rocket launches have been booked.
The FCC added the condition to address concerns from SpaceX, which opposed Amazon’s request for a deadline extension, describing it as “special treatment.” In a regulatory filing, the Elon Musk-led company raised concerns about a surge in interference issues stemming from Amazon launching and operating so many new satellites in low-Earth orbit to meet the deadline.
The FCC noted: “We disagree with SpaceX that allowing the Amazon Leo Gen1 system to retain its processing round status would result in new interference concerns for operators or deter new entrants into the market. The Bureau’s approach strikes the correct balance of enforcing the rules to encourage other operators to meet their deployment milestones while still encouraging and incentivizing deployment of valuable services to the American public and promoting American leadership in space.”
Although the FCC is temporarily rescinding the priority status, the commission is waiving another rule that would’ve required Amazon to submit a “compatibility showing” to demonstrate that its Leo satellites launched after July 30 won’t interfere with the Starlink constellation. Amazon must only comply with the rest of the space-sharing rules, which include either coordinating with other satellite companies or operating “on a non-interference basis,” the FCC says.
We asked Tim Farrar, a satellite industry analyst, about the temporary spectral demotion condition when the current rules already say low-Earth orbit satellite operators must "coordinate in good faith the use of commonly authorized frequencies regardless of their processing round status."
"Yes, it is largely symbolic since Amazon won't be fully operational before October 2027 (and should have constructed 1,600 satellites by then)," he said, "but it responds to SpaceX's objections and allows the FCC to preserve the option of reducing priority for other constellations that don't meet build out obligations."
Amazon doesn’t appear to be objecting to the conditions. The company told PCMag: “We appreciate [FCC] Chairman [Brendan] Carr and the FCC's continued support of Amazon Leo and American leadership in space. We are excited to begin rolling out service in the coming months and bring even more innovation, investment, and competition to the industry.”
In April, Amazon’s CEO also said it was planning to launch Leo in “mid-2026,” with pricing competitive with Starlink.
The company also says it has hundreds more Leo satellites on standby, ready to launch. In addition, Amazon has already contracted over 100 rocket flights. But last week, the company suffered a setback after a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket slated to fly up Leo satellites exploded on the launch pad during a test engine firing. Amazon had been hoping to use New Glenn to carry up to 48 satellites per flight.
Despite the setback, the company told PCMag it’s still sourcing flights from existing launch partners, including SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Arianespace. New Glenn makes up less than 25% of the total 100-plus rocket launches Amazon has already contracted for Leo. On Friday, Amazon posted about an upcoming launch, June 17th, using an Arianespace rocket that’ll carry 36 satellites, “four more than the previous two Ariane 6 missions, which each deployed 32 satellites—and making it the largest payload launched to date for both Amazon Leo and Arianespace.”
(Amazon)In February, the FCC also approved Amazon's request to launch a second-generation Leo constellation.