The central core of the Arianespace Ariane 64 rocket ahead of the first Ariane 6 Amazon Leo launch. Photo: Amazon

Amazon expects to spend $1 billion more on expenses for the Amazon Leo constellation in 2026, leadership advised investors in its recent financial reporting. 

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told investors on Feb. 5 the company expects a year-over-year cost increase of approximately $1 billion related to Amazon Leo this year. 

“We have more than 20 launches planned in 2026 and more than 30 in 2027, which means we’re spending more on launching satellites each year,” Olsavsky said. 

In addition, CEO Andy Jassy confirmed that Amazon Leo is expected to launch commercially this year. Speaking to investors, Jassy highlighted the enterprise Leo Ultra terminal and enterprise tie-in to Amazon Web Services. 

“Our enterprise-grade customer terminal, Leo Ultra, is the fastest satellite internet antenna ever built, delivering simultaneous download speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second and upload speeds of up to 400 megabits per second,” Jassy said. “Leo will offer enterprise-grade performance and advanced encryption with secure private networking that bypasses public internet, connecting directly to AWS.” 

Amazon Leo is in the midst of deploying the recently renamed Amazon Leo constellation to provide broadband for consumers, governments, and enterprises. So far, 180 satellites have been launched. 

Earlier this year, Amazon asked the FCC for an extension on its deployment milestone to have half of its constellation deployed by July 30. Amazon told the FCC in a recent filing it expects to meet the completion deadline of having the full constellation deployed by the end of July 2029, while asking for an extension or waiver on having 50% of the constellation launched by July 30. 

Amazon cited a shortage in near-term launch availability, “driven by manufacturing disruptions, the failure and grounding of new launch vehicles, and limitations in spaceport capacity.” Amazon also disclosed in the filing it purchased 10 more SpaceX Falcon 9 launches in late 2025 in addition to the three previously purchased. 

Amazon has invested more than $10 billion into Amazon Leo and “committed billions more,” according to the FCC filing.

The next Amazon Leo launch is set for later this week; Arianespace is set to perform its first mission for Amazon Leo on Feb. 12.