Amazon Has Enough Satellites To Launch Its Starlink Competitor (theverge.com)
(Friday July 03, 2026 @02:00AM (BeauHD)
from the better-than-nothing dept.)
- Reference: 0184278850
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/07/02/2149203/amazon-has-enough-satellites-to-launch-its-starlink-competitor
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/science/960563/amazon-leo-service-tipping-point
Amazon says its Leo satellite network [1]now has enough spacecraft in orbit to begin limited commercial internet service , with 396 satellites providing "continuous service across initial latitudes." Early performance will likely be uneven, however, and well behind Starlink. "It'll be years before Amazon can boast similar performance numbers as it continues to launch a planned 3,232 Leo satellites," reports The Verge. From the report:
> SpaceX went live with its "Better than nothing beta" back in 2020 when it had almost 900 satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. It initially served a narrow band of users in the upper US and Canada, who complained about frequent service interruptions and high sensitivity to obstructions, with speeds between 50Mbps and 150Mbps, and latency from 20ms to 40ms. By 2022, the service and coverage areas had already dramatically improved. [...]
>
> SpaceX currently has over 10,000 Starlink satellites in operation, providing robust internet connectivity on land, sea, and air in over 160 countries. Performance varies by the dish, service level paid for, time of day, and location of the user, but we're now talking 200Mbps median download speeds, 10Mbps to 40Mbps uploads, and latency hovering around 25ms.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/science/960563/amazon-leo-service-tipping-point
> SpaceX went live with its "Better than nothing beta" back in 2020 when it had almost 900 satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. It initially served a narrow band of users in the upper US and Canada, who complained about frequent service interruptions and high sensitivity to obstructions, with speeds between 50Mbps and 150Mbps, and latency from 20ms to 40ms. By 2022, the service and coverage areas had already dramatically improved. [...]
>
> SpaceX currently has over 10,000 Starlink satellites in operation, providing robust internet connectivity on land, sea, and air in over 160 countries. Performance varies by the dish, service level paid for, time of day, and location of the user, but we're now talking 200Mbps median download speeds, 10Mbps to 40Mbps uploads, and latency hovering around 25ms.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/science/960563/amazon-leo-service-tipping-point
Good luck with that (Score:1)
by Anonymous Coward
Amazon's Leo satellites are just barely fitting the LEO definition. They're 3x higher than Starlink's satellites so you can expect (a minimum of) 3x latency.
Re: (Score:1)
by 0123456 ( 636235 )
Unless the Internet is lying to me, Leo orbits around 600km and Starlink around 350-600km. So it doesn't appear that will make a lot of difference.
Most of the latency in my Starlink connection is because the signal comes down in the US and has to route back from there to Canada if I ping my office from home instead of going direct through a cable. So I wouldn't expect to see much difference if I was using Leo instead.
almost right (Score:3)
You are correct LEO != Leo, one is an acronym for low-Earth orbit. The other is the name of Amazon's satellite network. RTFA
That's what it's called (Score:1)
Actually, the service is named [1]Amazon Leo [wikipedia.org].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Leo
Re: (Score:1)
Fair enough. Feel free to mod down my post, it is incorrect and unfair
Re: (Score:2)
> LEO not Leo, moron.
Yeah, get a brains! Morans.
Re: (Score:3)
It's spelled "maroon" - just ask Bugs.