Amazon Unveils Satellite Antenna for Flights as it Plays Catch-up to SpaceX

Amazon is officially entering the race for in-flight Wi-Fi with its new Amazon Leo Aviation Antenna. The low-profile hardware is designed to sit on top of commercial aircraft to provide high-speed internet via the company’s upcoming satellite constellation.

While Amazon is touting the technology as a game-changer, the company remains significantly behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Starlink already has thousands of satellites in orbit and has signed major deals with airlines like United and WestJet. In contrast, Amazon is still in the early stages of its satellite launches, though it has already secured initial agreements with Delta and JetBlue.

The new hardware features a strikingly familiar design to the flat-panel antennas used by Starlink. It measures about 58 inches long and just 2.6 inches high, a “thin” profile meant to reduce drag and fuel consumption for airlines. Because the antenna has no moving parts, Amazon claims it can be installed in a single day and requires less maintenance than traditional satellite dishes.

On the performance side, Amazon says the system can deliver download speeds of up to 1 Gbps and upload speeds of 400 Mbps. This would theoretically allow every passenger on a plane to stream 4K video or play online games simultaneously without the lag typically associated with older satellite Wi-Fi.

To keep passengers connected over oceans or remote areas like the North Pole, the satellites use laser links to bounce data between each other until they can reach one of Amazon’s 300 planned ground stations. The company plans to ramp up its launch schedule through 2026 to get the service off the ground.

Amazon is currently in a race against the clock. They have roughly 240 satellites in orbit right now, but they need to hit about 1,600 by the end of July to meet their original FCC license requirements. Because they are behind that pace, they have already filed for a deadline extension to 2028.