Amazon Project Kuiper launch
Lift off... but Project Kuiper has problems ahead (image: Amazon)

Amazon’s Project Kuiper could be grounded before it’s even started

Amazon has finally launched the first batch of 27 satellites for its Starlink rival, Project Kuiper. But the project looks almost certain to miss a key deadline that could curtail the number of satellites it’s able to launch.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper is already playing catch-up with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has more than 7,000 satellites deployed and operational in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), with 4.5 million customers connected to the network. Project Kuiper aims to deploy a 3,200-strong constellation, but it’s in danger of missing a key deadline that could severely limit its deployment.

Project Kuiper is required to deploy half of its constellation by July 2026, due to the licensing conditions laid out by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It’s long been accepted that Amazon won’t hit that deadline, which was designed to prevent companies gaining permissions to launch satellites and then not using them.

Amazon will almost certainly have to apply for a waiver from the FCC or face strict limits on the number of satellites it could launch post-deadline, but that adds a political dimension to proceedings.

Amazon’s troubles with Trump

Amazon was yesterday involved in a bruising encounter with the Trump administration. Amid reports that Amazon was preparing to list the amount US tariffs were adding to the cost of products on its website, the company came under fire from the White House.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attacked the decision as a “hostile and political act”. She then held up a photo of Amazon founder and executive chairman, Jeff Bezos, and claimed Amazon had “partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm”. That’s believed to be a reference to Amazon complying with a Chinese government order to remove customer reviews and ratings from a book of the Chinese president’s speeches and writings.

In a sign that that the company could in no way be cowed by an authoritarian regime, Amazon swiftly denied it was ever planning to add tariff costs to its product listings after yesterday’s White House briefing. Later Donald Trump told reporters that he called Jeff Bezos who was “very nice” and “solved the problem very quickly”.

One reason why Bezos may have been so keen to appease Trump is Project Kuiper’s potential troubles ahead with the FCC. Trump has already shown he’s willing to weaponise the FCC to attack his so-called “enemies” in the media. Amazon likely decided it didn’t want to be on Trump’s hitlist.

Trump is, of course, also close to Elon Musk, who is currently leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). There’s a bitter recent history of the satellite rivals lodging complaints with the FCC about each other’s deployments, each claiming the other has broken rules and increased the risk of collisions in space.

If Amazon doesn’t get a favourable ruling from the FCC ahead of next summer’s deadline, its space ambitions could be over before they even started.

About The Author

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Barry Collins

Barry has 25 years of experience working on national newspapers, websites and magazines. He was editor of PC Pro and is co-editor and co-owner of BigTechQuestion.com. He has published a number of articles on TechFinitive covering data, innovation and cybersecurity.

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