Amazon Expands LEO Fleet to 302 Satellites as It Chases Starlink’s 10 Million Users
Updated
Updated · BroadbandBreakfast.com · May 12
Amazon Expands LEO Fleet to 302 Satellites as It Chases Starlink’s 10 Million Users
1 articles · Updated · BroadbandBreakfast.com · May 12
Amazon launched 32 more low-Earth-orbit satellites, lifting its deployed fleet to 302 as it prepares to enter broadband service and challenge SpaceX’s Starlink.
Oxford Economics, in a study funded by Amazon, said LEO broadband could support 78 million to 421 million users globally and add $32 billion to $863 billion to world GDP.
Andy Jassy cast the business as a major growth engine, comparing its potential to AWS and saying Amazon expects roughly 2 times better downlink and 6 times better uplink performance than existing alternatives.
Starlink still holds a large lead, with 10 million customers and more than 10,000 deployed LEO satellites, while Amazon is also bolstering its position through a $10.8 billion Globalstar acquisition announced in April.
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