Amazon says its satellite internet service will go live by the end of the year, after finishing its 1,000th spacecraft.
The company has spent nearly a decade building a low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation to beam broadband down to Earth. With the 1,000th satellite now built, Amazon says commercial service is on track to launch before 2026 ends. The effort is led by Rajeev Badyal, the engineer Elon Musk fired from Starlink eight years ago for moving too cautiously. Amazon has not detailed pricing, coverage areas, or which markets get service first.
SpaceX's Starlink has had the low-Earth-orbit broadband market mostly to itself for five years, with OneWeb offering only limited service by comparison. A credible second entrant matters to airlines, shipping companies, and governments that already lean on orbital internet for everything from in-flight Wi-Fi to military communications. Real competition could also be the first thing that pressures Starlink on price.
Three months is still three months - until Amazon actually flips the switch, this is a satellite count, not a product launch.