Project Kuiper is Now Amazon Leo
Rebranding a Nod to the Satellite Constellation That Powers the Network
Amazon has rebranded its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite Internet program as Amazon Leo. Previously Project Kuiper, the company says the change is a simple nod to the low Earth orbit satellite constellation that powers the network.
“We now operate one of the largest satellite production lines on the planet.”
Rajeev Badyal, Amazon Leo
In an article posted on the Amazon website, Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Amazon Leo said that “Project Kuiper” was a code name inspired by the Kuiper Belt, a ring of asteroids in our outer solar system. The code name remained associated with the program through many of its early milestones: filing and receiving initial licenses, signing the largest set of launch contracts in history, completing a successful prototype mission, and deploying the first full batch of production satellites earlier this year.
Amazon Leo will become the permanent name for the brand. But the long-term mission remains the same. “We now operate one of the largest satellite production lines on the planet. We’ve invented some of the most advanced customer terminals ever built, including the first commercial phased array antenna to support gigabit speeds,” Badyal said in the article. “And we now have more than 150 satellites in orbit, and customers and partners like JetBlue, L3Harris, DIRECTV Latin America, Sky Brasil, and NBN Co., Australia’s National Broadband Network operator, already signing up to deploy the service.”
Badyal said that the company is continuing to build out its initial satellite constellation, and will begin rolling out service once more coverage and capacity have been added to the network.