{"id":17051,"date":"2026-02-10T22:09:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/fcc-clears-amazon-leo-to-boost-satellite-broadband-coverage-and-cover-polar-regions\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T22:09:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:09:42","slug":"fcc-clears-amazon-leo-to-boost-satellite-broadband-coverage-and-cover-polar-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/fcc-clears-amazon-leo-to-boost-satellite-broadband-coverage-and-cover-polar-regions\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC clears Amazon Leo to boost satellite broadband coverage and cover polar regions"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1260\" height=\"727\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/260210-amazonleo-1260x727.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-914168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/260210-amazonleo-1260x727.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/260210-amazonleo-768x443.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/260210-amazonleo-1536x886.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/260210-amazonleo.jpg 1680w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1260px) 100vw, 1260px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">An artist\u2019s conception shows how additional Amazon Leo satellites would provide coverage in Earth\u2019s polar regions. (Amazon Illustration) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amazon has won the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s approval to go ahead with its plan to launch thousands of second-generation Amazon Leo satellites for its broadband internet network, even though the first-generation constellation is far from complete. <\/p>\n<p>The approval would add more than 4,500 satellites to the previously authorized constellation of 3,232 Gen 1 spacecraft, expanding coverage to the entire globe, including the poles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmazon Leo Gen 1 performance is impressive on its own, but lots to look forward to with Leo Gen 2: More capacity, more coverage (including polar) and additional throughput \u2014 good for customers everywhere, and especially important for big enterprise\/gov customers who want max performance to move large amounts of data through our network,\u201d Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Amazon Leo, said today in a LinkedIn posting.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2021309850710351947&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2026%2Ffcc-amazon-leo-gen2-broadband-coverage-polar%2F&amp;sessionId=dd92663fd15ee0be5f63c458c079d7edfef667fc&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"2021309850710351947\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782798720165871227=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The @FCC has approved Amazon&#8217;s second-generation Leo system, adding coverage + capacity to serve more customers around the world. Key features:<\/p>\n<p>\u27a1\ufe0f Expands constellation to 7,000+ satellites<br \/>\u27a1\ufe0f Adds support for V-band, Ku-band frequencies<br \/>\u27a1\ufe0f Adds polar coverage, extending Leo\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/BVXVLbozJv<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Amazon Leo (@Amazonleo) February 10, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The upgraded constellation will have added capability for offering high-speed services such as satellite TV and 5G via the Ku-band and V-band. SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network, which is the dominant player in the market for satellite broadband services, already makes use of those frequency bands.<\/p>\n<p>While the FCC approved Amazon\u2019s use of most of the frequencies it asked for, it deferred Amazon\u2019s request to operate in the 20.2-21.2 GHz and 30.3-31.0 GHz ranges of the Ka-band. The agency also brushed aside challenges to Amazon\u2019s requests from Iridium and Viasat.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past year, Amazon has launched 180 Gen 1 satellites, and another 32 are due to be sent into low Earth orbit by a European-built Ariane 6 rocket this week. That tally is far short of the 1,616 satellites that the FCC is requiring Amazon to launch by the end of July. Last month, Amazon asked the FCC to extend the deadline for that halfway-point milestone to 2028. The company pledged to have all 3,232 Gen 1 satellites in orbit by mid-2029, as required.<\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s grant of approval, the FCC said that half of the newly authorized satellites must be launched by February 2032, and that all of them must be put into operation by February 2035.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon has already begun previewing Leo for select customers, and the company is expected to launch commercial service this year. Chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky reportedly told investors last week that Amazon expects a year-over-year cost increase of about $1 billion related to Amazon Leo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have more than 20 launches planned in 2026 and more than 30 in 2027, which means we\u2019re spending more on launching satellites each year,\u201d Via Satellite quoted Olsavsky as saying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows how additional Amazon Leo satellites would provide coverage in Earth\u2019s polar regions. (Amazon Illustration) Amazon has won the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s approval to go ahead with its plan to launch thousands of second-generation Amazon Leo satellites for its broadband internet network, even though the first-generation constellation is far from complete. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[275,688,277,1720,962,20,4336,442],"class_list":["post-17051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-amazon-leo","tag-fcc","tag-federal-communications-commission","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17051"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}