Amazon has built its 1,000th Leo broadband satellite and still plans to start commercial service before the end of 2026, according to Eric Berger at Ars Technica. The company’s factory in Kirkland, Washington, needed six months to finish its first 27 satellites but can now turn out 27 a week, and Leo head Rajeev Badyal said the 396 already in orbit are enough to begin. Launches are what have held Amazon back, since delays have hit both ULA’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn, but Badyal said Vulcan is weeks from flying Leo satellites again. On the consumer side, business VP Chris Weber said Amazon intends to beat Starlink on value and sees ways to pair Leo with Prime, Prime Video, eero routers, Fire TV, and Ring, but he gave no details.
