Amazon’s Starlink rival just revealed its first major customer

By Trevor Mogg Published September 4, 2025

Amazon’s internet-from-space initiative is in its very early stages but it’s already announced its first airline customer.

Project Kuiper, which is intending to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service, has revealed its first major customer to be U.S. low-cost carrier JetBlue.

JetBlue will implement Project Kuiper’s satellite technology on select aircraft beginning in 2027. 

“Excited to have JetBlue as our first airline customer — bringing faster in-flight Wi-Fi to their passengers using our low-Earth orbit satellite network,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a post on X on Thursday.

Responding to the new partnership, JetBlue president Marty St. George said in a release, “Our agreement with Project Kuiper marks an exciting leap forward for us as the hands-down leader in onboard connectivity. Whether it’s binge-watching a favorite show, staying connected with loved ones, or wrapping up a work project, we’re always looking for ways to make our customers’ time in the air as connected and productive as they want it to be.”

Whereas SpaceX deployed its first Starlink internet satellites in 2019 and now has more than 7,000 of them providing broadband internet connectivity to around 6 million customers globally — including a number of airlines — Amazon only launched its first batch of 27 Project Kuiper satellites in April 2025 and has since launched a further 75 across three missions.  

Amazon’s initial Kuiper constellation will be made up of more than 3,200 satellites, with more than 80 missions needed to reach that goal. 

It’s aiming to launch a high-speed, low-latency satellite-powered internet service before the end of this year, with as few as 1,000 satellites needed for global coverage. Adding a further 2,200 satellites will help to improve both network performance and reliability for residential customers and others, such as JetBlue.

JetBlue has offered free high-speed Wi-Fi aboard its aircraft since 2013 with its Fly-Fi service and will continue offering complimentary connectivity to all customers with the Kuiper-powered system.