Amazon finishes 1,000th Leo satellite, internet launch weeks away

Amazon has completed production of its 1,000th Leo satellite and says satellite internet service will launch within weeks. The company has dramatically accelerated production: the first 27 satellites took six months to build, but it now churns out 27 a week. Only 396 of the required 3,232 satellites are currently in orbit. Launches will begin with a Vulcan rocket, followed by an Arianespace flight and at least one more Vulcan launch this year.

A factory that rewrote the rulebook

Amazon opened an empty 170,000-square-foot building in Kirkland, Washington, in December 2022 and turned it into a satellite factory within 15 months. The company builds its own propulsion systems and has rewritten classic spacecraft testing methods, borrowing approaches from consumer electronics. The result: inspections that once took weeks now take hours. Amazon has become the world's second-largest satellite manufacturer after SpaceX.

The program is led by Rajeev Badyal. Eight years ago, Musk fired him from Starlink, criticizing him for being overly cautious. Now Badyal is showing that his methodical approach works in practice.

Spectrum in exchange for proof

While 1,000 completed satellites sounds impressive, only 396 of the 3,232 needed for full deployment are in orbit. Amazon was required to deploy 1,616 satellites by July 30 but requested a two-year extension in January. The FCC denied the extension, but it also stripped the company's spectrum priority in the Ka and Ku bands for all satellites launched after the deadline — those satellites must now avoid interfering with Starlink.

However, there is a path back to priority status. The FCC has promised to restore it starting in October 2027 if Amazon can prove its readiness: built hardware and booked launches. The company now has both.

European expansion and competition

Amazon has already begun beta testing. Vodafone and Vodacom have been using the service in Europe and Africa since April 2026. Amazon's contracts include launches on Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket.

Europe is preparing its own response. The European Commission signed off on the IRIS2 project in August 2026, but the satellite network won't get its first customers until 2030 at the earliest. Meanwhile, Brussels is reserving two-thirds of the 2 GHz mobile-satellite spectrum band for European operators.

Launch infrastructure itself is causing delays. Vulcan remains grounded due to a nozzle malfunction. Blue Origin's New Glenn exploded on the launch pad in May 2026. Even so, four operators have roughly 100 launches booked between them. Amazon says it's confident that full-scale service expansion will begin within weeks.