Benchmarking Starlink! Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) plans to expand its Kuiper Project to 26 countries by 2026 and achieve global coverage by 2028.

Amazon.com, Inc. executive Ricky Freeman, as the President of the Kuiper Project Satellite Government Solutions, revealed at the Paris World Space Business Week event that the company's satellite internet project plans to provide services to the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom by the end of the first quarter of 2026. Amazon.com, Inc. expects to deploy over 200 satellites in low Earth orbit by the end of 2024, and had previously stated that services would launch by the end of 2025, but did not specify the market coverage and timing at that time. The core goal of the project is to build a satellite constellation of over 3,200 satellites to provide internet connectivity to individual users, businesses, and governments. Freeman further explained that the Kuiper Project will deploy satellites covering more southern regions, expand to 26 countries by the end of 2026, and achieve coverage in the equatorial region by 2027. Amazon.com, Inc. also plans to achieve "global coverage" by 2028, covering approximately 88 to 100 countries, including polar regions, by deploying additional satellites beyond the original deployment plan. Freeman emphasized being "very pleased with the current progress," but an Amazon.com, Inc. spokesperson declined to provide additional comments on their statements. As a competing project with Elon Musk's Starlink project, the Kuiper Project faced difficulties in increasing satellite production earlier this year due to delays from rocket manufacturers. Amazon.com, Inc. has launched four batches of satellites so far, with the next batch planned to be launched later this month. In terms of commercial collaboration, JetBlue Airways Corporation announced on September 4th that they will be the first airline to reach an agreement with the Kuiper Project for satellite-supported in-flight Wi-Fi services, with plans to provide in-flight internet access using Amazon.com, Inc. satellites to passengers starting from 2027.