The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has waived the July 30 deadline for Amazon to deploy half of its Project Leo satellite internet constellation, providing relief to the upcoming Starlink competitor. In January this year, Amazon had requested an extension from the FCC, admitting in a 125-page filing that it would not meet the July deadline to have half of its satellite constellation operational. The filing revealed that Amazon has invested ‘well over $10 billion’ in the Leo project, including contractual commitments for launch contracts through the first quarter of 2029.
SpaceX Opposed Amazon’s Extension Request
SpaceX, which operates the Starlink network, opposed Amazon’s request for an extension. In a February filing with the FCC, SpaceX argued that extensions are meant to be minor and rare, resulting from unforeseeable circumstances beyond the operator’s control. SpaceX stated, ‘Tellingly, Amazon routinely opposed its competitors’ requests for milestone extensions and for similar reasons in the past. Fortunately, the Commission has an opportunity to finally put an end to this gamesmanship by simply treating all of these filings as modifications under its existing precedent.’
FCC’s Order Granting the Waiver
In its order, the FCC granted a limited waiver of the milestone deployment requirements for Amazon’s Leo Gen1 constellation. The commission found that a limited waiver serves the public interest by providing regulatory certainty and promoting efficient use of resources. The waiver applies to the interim milestone requirement, meaning Amazon’s authority to launch and operate undeployed satellites will not terminate on the July 30, 2026 interim milestone date. However, the final milestone of July 30, 2029 remains in place. If Amazon fails to meet that final deadline, its authorized satellite count will be reduced to the number operational on that date.
Amazon’s Leo system currently has about 330 satellites in orbit. The FCC requires the entire first-generation constellation to be deployed by July 30, 2029. Without the extension, Amazon would have lost regulatory clearance to launch new satellites, diminishing its broadband coverage capabilities.
