Amazon's satellite internet business has secured its first airline customer. Amazon announced on the 4th (local time) that it has signed a contract with U.S. low-cost airline JetBlue to provide the satellite internet service 'Project Kuiper.'
Starting in 2027, Amazon will provide Kuiper satellite internet Wi-Fi on one-quarter of JetBlue's aircraft.
This is the first time Amazon's Kuiper has signed a contract with an airline. The company is competing with SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink, led by Elon Musk.
Amazon has currently launched 102 satellites. The company aims to deploy approximately 1,600 satellites into low Earth orbit by the end of July next year and a total of 3,236 by July 2029.
It has not yet started customer service and aims to begin testing Kuiper around the end of this year or early next year.
Amazon is working to catch up with SpaceX as a latecomer in the institutional sector of this service. SpaceX has already launched 8,000 satellites and dominates the market.
Starlink has already secured major airlines as customers, including Air France, Qatar Airways, and United Airlines. Following Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines is also expected to install Starlink starting next year.
Amazon is also pushing for service expansion by partnering with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Chris Weber, vice president of sales and marketing at Kuiper, said, "There is still much work to be done, but I am very pleased that JetBlue has become Kuiper's first airline customer."
JetBlue has been providing free in-flight internet using geostationary satellites through a partnership with U.S. satellite communications company Viasat, and this partnership will continue.
Source: https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-it/2025/09/05/GXXXS4AAHFA3PPWICC67QH2JVA/
