On Monday, Amazon announced a new terminal called Amazon Leo Ultra, promising higher-speed internet and enterprise-grade performance. The launch is part of a broader effort to promote Amazon Leo, the company’s low-Earth-orbit satellite initiative, as it enters an enterprise preview phase ahead of wider commercial availability. Since Project Kuiper’s announcement in 2019, Amazon’s satellite effort has been largely infrastructure-first, focused on building out the satellite constellation and ground systems rather than customer hardware. The Ultra is the first terminal intended to show how that network will be used in real-world deployments.
Amazon Leo Ultra and the Network It Represents
Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) is Amazon’s network of low-Earth-orbit satellites for internet connectivity, similar to SpaceX’s Starlink. The more than 150 low-Earth-orbit (500-600km) satellites currently in orbit are designed to reduce latency relative to geostationary satellites (about 35,000km). Leo’s satellites are designed to allow latency-sensitive workloads like video conferencing, industrial telemetry, and live remote operations to function more reliably in places traditional broadband cannot reach. The service will be integrated into AWS infrastructure, enabling private networking and secure data flows into cloud-based workloads. Amazon Leo is not yet a consumer product. The company has begun a limited enterprise preview, providing its terminals to selected commercial and government partners while the satellite network undergoes further testing.
A large part of the appeal of satellite networks like Amazon Leo is the ability for organizations to use high speed, secure internet in remote or underserved environments. Amazon’s messaging reflects this goal: “Amazon Leo represents a massive opportunity for businesses operating in challenging environments,” said Chris Weber, vice president of consumer and enterprise business for Amazon Leo. “We’ve designed Amazon Leo to meet the needs of some of the most complex business and government customers out there.” Amazon adds that it has signed agreements with JetBlue, Vanu Inc., Hunt Energy Network, Connected Farms, and Crane Worldwide Logistics, according to an Amazon Leo press release. These early customers are organizations with real operational exposure to connectivity failures, which is exactly where satellite networks earn their keep.
Amazon has released details specifically on the Ultra terminal, calling it “the fastest customer terminal in production,” with download speeds up to 1 Gbps and upload speeds up to 400 Mbps. The device comes with a custom silicon chip designed by Amazon Leo, and uses Amazon’s proprietary radio system to further reduce latency. Easy installation and durability in harsh environments are central to the pitch, emphasizing the antenna’s utility in locations where conventional internet access is unreliable.
The Competitive Dynamics
Until now, Starlink has been the dominant force in the market Amazon Leo is hoping to attract. While Amazon does not launch its own satellites like SpaceX does, relying instead on external launch providers such as United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Blue Origin, it does build them. Integration with AWS gives Leo a strategic advantage, especially for organizations already running workloads or infrastructure on Amazon’s cloud. It remains to be seen if Amazon Leo will prove a serious competitor to Starlink, a service so proven it is used by governments in active conflict zones. But Leo’s emergence signals that SpaceX can no longer take its satellite dominance for granted.
