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Amazon is making its satellite communication network a bit more official with a rebrand. The company has announced<\/a> that Project Kuiper will now be called “Amazon Leo,” a nod to the fact that its network is composed of satellites in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n Project Kuiper’s journey to becoming a proper Amazon brand has been a long one. The company introduced the project<\/a> in 2019 with the goal of offering internet in regions without a reliable connection, through a proposed constellation of over 3,000 satellites that could blanket 95 percent of the global population in high-speed internet. That constellation has yet to fully take shape, however. In the years following the Project Kuiper reveal, Amazon launched prototype satellites<\/a>, detailed plans for a space laser mesh network<\/a> and showed off the antennas<\/a> customers will use to connect to its network, but it didn’t actually launch the first 27 satellites<\/a> in its constellation until April 2025.<\/p>\n In comparison, its competitor Starlink has had a much faster expansion. SpaceX launched the Starlink satellite internet service in beta in 2020, and has rapidly expanded it<\/a> since then. Now SpaceX has a deal with T-Mobile<\/a> for satellite-enabled texting, and has struck up partnerships with airlines to test or offer internet connection on flights<\/a>. Rebranding Project Kuiper to Leo suggests Amazon is finally ready to think about its satellite network as a product in its own right, but the company still has some catching up to do.<\/p>\n Amazon hasn’t shared a date for when its satellite internet service will be widely available for personal and commercial use, but you can sign-up on the Amazon Leo website<\/a> to receive updates as the company works towards launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n