After SpaceX, Amazon is another big company determined to build a massive network of satellites to beam internet services to any location on Earth. The e-commerce giant has cracked a new deal with its first airline customer, JetBlue, to offer high-speed internet at 35,000 feet in the air.
JetBlue"s Fly-Fi service has provided free high-speed Wi-Fi to its customers since 2013. The service is powered by Viasat"s GEO (Geostationary) satellites and was scaled across JetBlue"s entire fleet by 2017.
As part of the deal, JetBlue will install Project Kuiper"s LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite technology on some of its aircraft by 2027. Amazon"s said that the flat aviation-specific customer terminal mounted on top of the aircraft is its most powerful Kuiper terminal, capable of supporting download speeds up to 1Gbps.
LEO satellites can deliver more reliable internet service and lower latency compared to GEO satellites as they are deployed closer to the Earth. So far, Amazon has deployed over 100 Kuiper LEO satellites orbiting between 367 and 391 miles above Earth.
Project Kuiper"s internet will support streaming and other bandwidth-intensive activities during flight. The switch will happen in phases, and JetBlue is also exploring the possibilities of a multi-orbit solution for the future, powered by both LEO and GEO satellites for even better in-flight connectivity.
The rise of streaming services, social media, and cloud platforms has made in-flight internet more of a necessity than a luxury. Many people rely on the internet for their jobs and may not want digital blackouts during long-haul flights.
Project Kuiper is still in its development phase, and Amazon has cracked deals with Vodafone, Airbus, and others. The company aims to launch the satellite internet service to its first customers later this year.
Kuiper"s rival Starlink has already onboarded several airline customers, including United Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Hawaiian Airlines, offering some of the fastest in-flight Wi-Fi speeds.
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