Amazon’s Project Kuiper strikes its first satellite internet deal with an airline

Amazon’s satellite internet service, Project Kuiper, will partner with JetBlue to provide in-flight Wi-Fi starting in 2027. It’s Project Kuiper’s first deal with an airline as it aims to keep up with the SpaceX-owned Starlink, which has already snagged satellite internet agreements with United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Air France, and several others.

Amazon has been working on its Starlink competitor since 2019, but the service has only just started to get off the ground. In April, Amazon successfully launched its first round of 27 low-earth orbit satellites into space. The Project Kuiper constellation has since grown to more than 100 satellites, making up a small fraction of the over 3,200 satellites it eventually plans to deploy. Amazon has another Project Kuiper launch set for later this month, but it still has ways to go to catch up to Starlink, which has more than 8,000 satellites in orbit.

Project Kuiper-powered Wi-Fi will be available on “select” aircraft at launch. Amazon says its satellites will provide lower latency and “more reliable service” for passengers, as they orbit between 367 and 391 miles above Earth — far closer than the geostationary satellites that orbit around 22,369 miles above the planet. Amazon has also struck a deal with Airbus to build Project Kuiper’s satellite internet service into its aircraft.