Amazon Rebrands Project Kuiper As 'Amazon Leo,' Launches Enterprise Preview

(RTTNews) - Amazon has brought back its satellite initiative in low Earth orbit, now called Amazon Leo, as it gets ready to roll out its global broadband network.

With over 150 satellites already circling the Earth and initial tests of the network in progress, they shared fresh details on hardware and services aimed at businesses, plus they've kicked off an enterprise preview program for a few chosen customers ahead of a wider launch next year.

The idea behind Amazon Leo is to provide dependable, high-speed internet to companies and organizations that are way beyond the reach of standard networks. It's particularly focused on industries like energy, manufacturing, transportation, media, and government.

Chris Weber, the VP of Amazon Leo's consumer and enterprise division, mentioned that "Amazon Leo presents a huge chance for businesses operating in tough conditions."

One of the key highlights is the Leo Ultra, which is Amazon's fancy new terminal for enterprises. This full duplex phased array antenna can deliver download speeds up to 1 Gbps and upload speeds reaching 400 Mbps, making it the fastest of its kind available.

It's designed to withstand extreme weather and uses custom Amazon silicon, supporting low-latency tasks like video calls, real-time monitoring, and cloud computing.

On top of that, Amazon Leo will provide secure networking solutions, like Direct to AWS, which allows customers to connect straight to their cloud services without going through the public internet, and Private Network Interconnects for direct links to data centers.

Some of the early partners include JetBlue, Hunt Energy Network, Vanu Inc., Connected Farms, and Crane Worldwide Logistics.

Amazon is already sending out units of its Leo Pro and Leo Ultra terminals to select customers as part of this preview phase.