Amazon’s up-and-coming satellite internet program is no longer called Project Kuiper. Today he is known simply as “Leo”. The name change comes as the company appears to be shifting its focus from “unserved or underserved” communities to securing larger commercial contracts.
The satellite network has been under construction since 2019, and the name Project Kuiper was supposed to be temporary, according to Amazon. Leo refers to the network’s location in what is known as low Earth orbit, commonly referred to in the space industry as “LEO.”
Amazon was working toward the launch of its first Kuiper satellite earlier this year, a project the company proudly described as “an effort to increase global broadband access” with a “lofty-sounding mission to bring fast, affordable broadband to communities underserved by traditional internet providers.”
However, as TechCrunch previously noted, the company has changed the language it uses to describe its service in recent months as it inked deals with Airbus and JetBlue, making the network more squarely in competition with SpaceX’s Starlink service.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
An archived version of Kuiper’s main FAQ page published in late 2024 mentions the aforementioned “mission” to serve these communities at the beginning of the post. Affordability is mentioned three times overall, and Amazon calls it a “Key Principle of Project Kuiper.”
“Amazon has a long-standing commitment to low prices and a lot of experience building popular low-cost devices like the Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick,” reads an answer to an archived post question about how much Kuiper services cost. “We are applying a similar approach to Project Kuiper.”
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That question and answer about cost has now been removed from the Leo FAQ, and there is no mention of “affordability” anywhere on the page.
The wording at the top of the new FAQ is also different. It states that Leo is “Amazon’s low-orbit satellite network designed to bring fast, reliable internet to customers and communities beyond the reach of existing networks.”
Leo’s FAQ states that reduced connectivity could “create an economic disadvantage for people, businesses, and other organizations operating in unserved and underserved regions of the world,” but the company has been less specific about putting these communities at the center of its customer pipeline.
Amazon Leo’s new website shows even more clearly how it prioritizes home and commercial Internet services. This will facilitate the ability to “seamlessly video call, stream 4K video,” and “accommodate the entire family’s internet needs,” as well as the ability for Leo to “seamlessly stream 4K video.”[f]Flexible, scalable, and enterprise-ready. ”
The idea of using Leo “in rural and remote areas” is almost an afterthought on the main website, with no mention of cost or affordability.
Despite all this, on Thursday Amazon posted a flashy video about Company X’s name change. The videos include a child doing homework on a computer, a professional drift racer, an emergency worker on a remote road, a farmer using a tablet, and a couple dancing in a laundromat. Along with the video, he wrote, “New name, same mission.”
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