Amazon Completes 1,000th Leo Satellite Ahead of 2026 Rollout

Amazon has completed its 1,000th Amazon Leo broadband satellite as the company prepares its first launch aboard United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket and plans to begin rolling out service to customers in 2026.

The milestone covers satellites built at Amazon’s 170,000-square-foot factory in Kirkland, Washington. It does not represent the number of satellites launched or operating in orbit.

Amazon’s first Amazon Leo launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket is expected within weeks of Oct. 8. The company has not provided an exact launch date or a specific date for customer service.

“I can say we’re weeks away from launching on Vulcan. Things are on track,” Rajeev Badyal, an Amazon Leo executive, said in an Oct. 8 interview.

The planned rollout would begin in 2026 at northern and southern latitudes, then expand toward the Equator as coverage and network capacity increase. Amazon’s stated language describes service beginning to roll out to customers rather than confirming broad or fully operational coverage by the end of the year.

Amazon’s production rate has increased from 27 satellites in six months to 27 satellites a week. “It took us six months to make our first 27 satellites. Now we can easily make 27 a week,” Badyal said.

Amazon built the Kirkland facility in 15 months after taking over an empty building in December 2022. Manufacturing and testing a satellite currently takes several weeks.

The company expects another Vulcan launch later in 2026 and has contracted ULA, Arianespace, SpaceX and Blue Origin for launches.

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is authorized for a first-generation constellation of 3,232 satellites. Amazon has also filed for a separate direct-to-device system of up to 5,105 satellites, with deployment planned to begin in 2028.

Amazon previously described its Leo Ultra terminal as capable of download speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second and upload speeds of up to 400 megabits per second.

“If this was easy, everybody else would be doing it,” Badyal said. The next concrete step is Amazon’s first Vulcan launch, which the company places within weeks of the Oct. 8 interview.