Amazon Leo will begin providing services later this year, according to a project update from the company.
The report says that Amazon Leo — formerly Project Kuiper — began full deployment in April 2025. So far, the low Earth orbit (LEO) provider has conducted 14 missions consisting of more than 375 satellites. The update says that the launch rate will accelerate and more than 100 satellite launches are booked for the future.
Amazon Leo is also changing a key vendor, the company announced. It is transitioning from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to the Vulcan launch vehicle, which has more capacity.
The final ULA deployment was on July 2, when the LA-08 (Leo Atlas 8), the fourteenth mission overall the eight on ULA’s Atlas V rock, delivered 29 satellites. The launch was from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Atlas V deployed satellites at approximately 289 miles over Earth. The Amazon team took over and conducted initial health checks. The next steps for Amazon Leo are repositioning the satellites to 392 miles over Earth, full commissioning, and service rollout.
“Atlas V has played a critical role in the early deployment phase for Amazon Leo, launching 224 satellites with a 100% success rate across all eight missions, and we’re excited to build on that foundation with ULA as we transition to Vulcan,” Amazon Leo Director of Launch Systems Melissa Vuerl said in a press release.
“With hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing by at the Cape and a new, dedicated vertical integration facility ready to support Leo Vulcan 1 and subsequent missions, we have a clear path to increase launch and deployment cadence, helping us quickly expand network coverage following an initial service rollout later this year.”
The launch vehicle change before service rollout is not the only move made recently by Amazon Leo. In April the company signed a definitive merger agreement with Globalstar and partnered with Apple to provide connectivity services to the iPhone and Apple Watch.
Another key moment for Amazon Leo was in February, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved its application to place 4,504 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites into orbit.
