TAMPA, Fla. — Amazon no longer faces a July 30 cutoff for deploying half its planned 3,232 broadband satellites, but the reprieve comes with a temporary loss of spectrum priority that could give SpaceX and other rivals more leverage in orbit.
The Federal Communications Commission granted the company a waiver June 5 after only 331 Amazon Leo satellites had been launched since deployments got underway last year, or just over 10% of the proposed Gen 1 constellation.
Amazon said the constellation had been held back primarily by a lack of available rockets, despite signing launch contracts worth several billion dollars and making manufacturing progress on the satellites it builds in-house.
A deadline to deploy the full constellation by July 30, 2029, remains in place, which the company said it is still on track to meet following the recent grounding of Blue Origin’s New Glenn, one of several newer rockets its launch manifest relies on.
The FCC set the deployment deadlines in 2020, when it initially approved the constellation known then as Project Kuiper, as part of measures to prevent companies from warehousing spectrum after being awarded access to the critical communications resource.
“We find that Amazon Leo has demonstrated special circumstances warranting deviation from the milestone rules, and that Amazon Leo’s deployment progress thus far, including its significant investments in its Amazon Leo constellation, justifies deviation in service and support of the public interest,” FCC Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz said in the order.
The waiver “will not undermine the purpose of the milestone deployment requirement,” he added, while “promoting a second large satellite broadband constellation” to take on SpaceX’s Starlink.
Amazon said it appreciated the FCC’s support for Amazon Leo as it prepares to provide early services.
“We are excited to begin rolling out service in the coming months and bring even more innovation, investment, and competition to the industry,” an Amazon spokesperson said via email.
Amazon, which says it has more than 100 launches on contract and hundreds of satellites waiting on standby for a mission to low Earth orbit, plans to deploy 36 spacecraft June 17 on an Ariane 6 with upgraded boosters, compared with 32 on previous Arianespace missions.
The company has so far relied on Ariane 6, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to deploy satellites, while waiting for ULA’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn to enter regular service.
The penalty
Until at least 50% of the constellation is operational, the FCC said Gen 1 satellites launched after July 30 will temporarily lose the priority status gained from the regulator’s 2020 Ka/Ku-band and 2021 V-band processing rounds.
The priority lapse will last for 20 months after the missed deadline until March 30, 2028, but can be shortened by five months if Amazon proves it has built and secured launches for half its proposed Gen 1 spacecraft.
Amazon Leo will have the same coordination status as any system licensed following the 2020 and 2021 processing rounds, the order states, pointing to SpaceX’s recently expanded Starlink Gen 2 proposal and a constellation planned by Logos Space Services as examples.
Typically, later-round constellations must protect satellites processed in earlier FCC application rounds, or show they will not cause harmful interference.
However, the order means Amazon must coordinate or operate its late satellites on a non-interference basis with these companies, potentially giving competitors more room to press for favorable operating conditions, albeit temporarily.
SpaceX and Logos did not respond to requests for comment.
SpaceX had previously opposed a waiver, arguing that late Amazon Leo Gen 1 satellites should instead undergo a new processing round.
The waiver, which retains the forfeit of a surety bond for missing the deadline, comes as the FCC considers sweeping changes to deployment and other satellite rules to keep pace with the rapidly evolving industry.
“In resolving this issue of novel complexity during a unique period when the Commission’s deployment milestone rules remain under review for fundamental change, we craft a remedy tailored to ensure that Americans quickly benefit from multiple, facilities-based providers of next-gen satellite services,” Schwarz said in the order.
The FCC separately approved Amazon’s plans earlier this year to operate 3,212 Gen 2 satellites and 1,292 polar spacecraft to improve services, with a deadline to deploy half of them by Feb. 10, 2032, and the rest three years later.
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