The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved an extension application for Amazon’s Leo satellite Internet constellation, allowing it to temporarily postpone the milestone of deploying half of the satellites by July 30, but with a condition: satellites launched after July 30 will temporarily lose their “priority status.”
The FCC stated in the announcement that this decision will help promote the emergence of a second large-scale satellite broadband constellation in the United States to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, and is also in line with the public interest of providing more valuable services to American consumers.
According to FCC requirements, Amazon Leo originally needed to complete the deployment of half of the 3,232 satellites by July 30; due to previous delays in acquiring rocket capacity and redesigning satellites, Amazon applied for an extension from the regulatory agency.
The FCC pointed out that if it is not extended, Amazon will lose its regulatory permission to continue launching new satellites into the first-generation constellation, which will weaken its broadband coverage capabilities; the company currently has about 330 satellites in orbit, and the FCC also requires it to complete the deployment of the entire first-generation constellation by July 30, 2029 at the latest.
However, the FCC has also set constraints: Amazon will temporarily lose priority processing for satellites launched after July 30, which means that these new satellites need to prove that they are compatible with and protected by other authorized low-Earth orbit systems, especially spectrum coexistence issues with Starlink.
The FCC said Amazon will regain the qualification after meeting one of two conditions: first, its constellation reaches 50% deployment and operation, and second, until March 30, 2028; if Amazon can prove that the satellites required to reach the 50% milestone have been built and the relevant rocket launches have been booked, this period can be shortened to October 30, 2027.
This additional condition is also apparently a response to SpaceX’s objections. SpaceX has previously criticized Amazon's extension request as "special accommodation" and expressed concern in regulatory documents that Amazon's deployment of a large number of low-orbit satellites to rush the work will increase the risk of interference; the FCC disagrees with this statement and believes that its approach can not only urge operators to fulfill their deployment obligations, but also encourage valuable services to be launched as soon as possible.
Amazon did not dispute the conditions and expressed its gratitude to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the Commission for their continued support of Amazon Leo and U.S. space leadership. The company expects to begin launching services in the coming months.
The report also mentioned that Amazon CEO said in April that Leo plans to launch in mid-2026 and the pricing will be competitive with Starlink; the company also said that it has hundreds of satellites to be launched and has signed more than 100 rocket launch contracts.
However, Amazon has also suffered a setback recently: a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket originally planned to carry the Leo satellite exploded during a ground test, which affected its launch schedule.
Despite this, Amazon said it is still coordinating missions with existing launch partners such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Arianespace; among them, Arianespace plans to perform a launch on June 17 to deliver 36 Leo satellites, which is the largest payload mission to date for the project and Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket.
The FCC also approved Amazon’s application for the second-generation Leo constellation in February this year.