- Unsurprisingly, the FCC granted Amazon Leo’s request for a waiver of its July satellite launch deadline
- The FCC said the waiver is in the public’s interest
- Amazon couldn’t possibly meet the July interim deadline
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted Amazon Leo a waiver of its July 2026 satellite deployment deadline, while retaining its July 30, 2029 final deployment deadline. The FCC said the waiver of the interim deadline serves the public interest because Amazon Leo promises to become a second large satellite constellation, after SpaceX’s Starlink, bringing broadband to Americans.
The FCC order, signed June 5, gives Amazon Leo until July 30, 2029 to deploy its full Gen1 constellation of 3,232 satellites. But if Amazon Leo fails to launch its full constellation by that deadline, it will be limited to the total number of its satellites that are operational on that date.
In January, Amazon Leo filed a request with the FCC, saying that it could not meet its promise to have 1,616 satellites in orbit by July 30, 2026, and asking for a two-year extension. The company had only 180 satellites in orbit in January, and it currently has only 330 satellites in orbit.
In its order the FCC wrote, “We grant Amazon Leo’s request for waiver. At this time, only one operator, SpaceX, is providing broadband to American consumers from low-Earth orbit. Amazon Leo’s service promises to be ‘groundbreaking,’ both in quality of service and affordability for consumers.”
But rather than extending Amazon’s Leo’s interim deadline by two years, the FCC is dispensing with the interim deadline and requiring the company to launch its full constellation of 3,232 satellites in three years — by the final deadline of July 30, 2029.
Blue Origin problems
One of Amazon’s excuses for not meeting its interim launch deadline was technical difficulties. And those difficulties got even worse on May 28, when a New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad of Amazon’s rocket company Blue Origin. The rocket erupted in a giant fireball that engulfed its Cape Canaveral launch pad.
The rocket that exploded was being tested for an upcoming mission by Blue Origin that was supposed to launch 48 satellites for Amazon Leo. But now, the launch facility may not be repaired until the end of 2026.
However, Amazon Leo does work with other launch providers, including Arianespace, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX.
According to Amazon Leo’s update page, the company plans to launch 36 satellites on its next mission, June 17. This will be its largest payload to date. The launch will be conducted by Arianespace from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Prior to the New Glenn explosion, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon Leo was making progress toward commercial service.
Jassy said, “While Amazon Leo is officially scheduled to launch in mid-2026, we already have meaningful revenue commitments from enterprises and governments. Most recently, Delta Airlines, the highest grossing airline in the world, has announced it’s chosen Amazon Leo for its future Wi-Fi, and will begin with 500 planes in 2028. They join other Leo customers like JetBlue, AT&T, Vodafone, NASA, and others.”