The most direct competitor to Starlink, Amazon.com’s Project Kuiper, has changed its name to Amazon Leo.
According to a statement on Thursday, the “Leo” in the new name refers to low-Earth orbit, aligning the brand more closely with the type of service it provides to its customers.
“Like most early Amazon projects, the programme needed a code name, and the team began operating as ‘Project Kuiper’ – inspired by the Kuiper Belt, a ring of asteroids in our outer solar system,” said Amazon Leo CEO Rajeev Badyal. “Amazon Leo is a simple nod to the low-Earth orbit satellite constellation that powers the network.”
The rebrand comes as the company gears up to take on rival Starlink, whose parent company SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk. Earlier this week, Leo announced a partnership with US-based radio equipment specialist Vanu for the deployment of cell towers in far-flung and rural parts of Southern Africa. The cell towers leverage Amazon’s constellation of LEO satellites and partnerships with mobile operators to provide connectivity to these areas.
Meanwhile, Starlink’s entry into South Africa has suffered delays. Starlink continues to lobby for the introduction of equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) by communications regulator Icasa. Starlink aims to use EEIPs as an alternative to selling or giving away 30% equity to historically disadvantaged groups and has said it will not commit to investing in the South African market until EEIPs are introduced.
Catching up
Starlink has been more successfully in other parts of Africa. Vodacom Group on Wednesday announced a partnership with Starlink to provide high-speed connectivity to business and expand rural connectivity in markets where both Vodacom and Starlink are operational. These include Mozambique, Kenya and Lesotho.
Read: The satellite broadband operators taking on Starlink
Although Starlink does have first-mover advantage, Leo is catching up, especially in South Africa where none of the LEO satellite broadband providers have established a market presence. According to Leo’s Badyal, the name change has not altered the company’s long-term strategic vision.
“Our long-term mission remains the same, and we’re making good progress against it. We now operate one of the largest satellite production lines on the planet. We’ve invented some of the most advanced customer terminals ever built, including the first commercial phased array antenna to support gigabit speeds,” said Badyal. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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