Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Starlink

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The first 27 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the long-delayed deployment of an internet-from-space network that will rival SpaceX's Starlink.

The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10 billion effort unveiled in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments - customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.