Multiple sources report that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Amazon Leo’s application to place 4,504 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites into orbit.
A PC Magazine article displayed the FCC notice, saying that 1,292 of the second-generation satellites will cover the planet’s polar region, including Alaska and northern Canada. Satellites will add V-band Ku bands from 10.7 to 12.7GHz, 12.75 to 13.25GHz, and 14.0 to 14.5GHz.
SpaceNews added that Amazon is “seeking relief” from missing a July milestone by only launching 11% of its required first-generation satellites. The numbers seem to vary between sources. SpaceNews says that Amazon’s constellation now totals 7,736 satellites. It says that the Gen 2 and Polar satellites all are approved to operate across Ku, Ka and V band frequencies.
The SpaceNews piece also says that Amazon was slated to launch 32 spacecraft yesterday. It will be the first time that Arianspace works with Amazon Leo and the first use of the company’s heavy-lift Ariane 64 configuration.
“Amazon Leo Gen 1 performance is impressive on its own, but lots to look forward to with Leo Gen 2: More capacity, more coverage (including polar) and additional throughput—good for customers everywhere, and especially important for big enterprise/gov customers who want max performance to move large amounts of data through our network,” Amazon Leo vice president Rajeev Badyal posted on LinkedIn, touting the FCC approval.
Amazon Leo is counting on FCC cooperation as it begins courting businesses with efforts like a recently-announced service preview and a new partnership with AT&T.
The biggest player in the satellite broadband is still SpaceX’s Starlink. Before the Amazon Leo approval, the FCC approved Starlink’s application to add 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites to orbit. That would double its current number and bring its total network to 15,000 satellites.
