Project Kuiper, Amazon's answer to Elon Musk's Starlink, will launch outside the US in 2026. The company has signed a deal with NBN Co to transform satellite internet access in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia.
As part of the agreement, Kuiper satellite internet will reach about 300,000 Australian users after the service launches in mid-2026. Amazon wants to provide connectivity to areas where there is no or very limited internet.
"We’ve designed Project Kuiper to be the most advanced satellite system ever built, and we’re combining that innovation with Amazon’s long track record of making everyday life better for customers," says Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Technology at Kuiper. "We’re proud to be working with NBN to bring Kuiper to even more customers and communities across Australia and look forward to creating new opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people in rural and remote parts of the country."
Project Kuiper, which Amazon first announced six years ago, envisions a satellite network of more than 3,200 devices. There are currently 78 satellites in low-Earth orbit, and more than 80 more launches are planned to complete the constellation. Once fully deployed, the network will be able to provide coverage almost anywhere in the world.
With this project, Amazon wants to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink, which is already actively working, including in Ukraine, where the military uses satellite internet. However, it is still too early to compare the two companies in terms of scale, given that Starlink has over 8,000 satellites in orbit.