TAMPA, Fla. — Amazon has unveiled the final production version of Leo Ultra, the company’s highest-performing enterprise terminal for the low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellation it aims to bring into service next year.

Capable of download speeds up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) and upload speeds up to 400 megabits per second (Mbps), Amazon said Nov. 24 that Leo Ultra is currently the fastest commercial phased-array antenna in production.

SpaceX’s in-service Starlink Performance Kit advertises peak download and upload speeds of 475 Mbps and 75 Mbps, though it aims to begin introducing gigabit-class service next year without requiring new terminal hardware after deploying upgraded, larger satellites on its Starship rocket, which is currently in development.

An Amazon executive said in September that internal performance testing had exceeded expectations following initial satellite deployments, with downlink speeds reaching up to 1.8 Gbps and uplinks around 450 Mbps.

As with all satellite broadband systems, actual user speeds depend on constellation capacity and can vary depending on network congestion.

Enterprise focus

Powered by a chip developed in-house, Leo Ultra is designed to connect directly to Amazon Web Services or other cloud and on-premise networks, enabling customers to move data from remote areas to private systems without passing through the public internet.

Amazon said it has started shipping Leo Ultra to select companies as part of an enterprise preview program, ahead of a wider commercial rollout next year as more satellites come online.

The company has also been shipping its primary terminal, Leo Pro, which was unveiled alongside Leo Ultra in 2023. At the time, Amazon said its standard terminal would be capable of speeds up to 400 Mbps. Leo Pro’s final production design remains under wraps, along with an ultra-compact Nano terminal that was also announced in 2023, with speeds up to 100 Mbps.

An Amazon spokesperson said pricing details are not being disclosed for any of its terminals, but the company still expects Leo Pro will cost less than $400 to produce.

Amazon Leo’s early customers and partners include JetBlue, Vanu Inc., Hunt Energy Network, Connected Farms and Australia’s state-backed National Broadband Network (NBN Co.).

Waiting for launch

Although launches for Amazon Leo began in April, only 153 of the more than 3,200 proposed satellites have been deployed so far.

United Launch Alliance recently announced plans to deploy its fourth batch of satellites for the constellation Dec. 15 on an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, pending range approval.

Five Atlas 5s in total are on Amazon Leo’s multi-provider manifest, with the remainder relying on newer rockets that have yet to prove reliability at scale, amid a Federal Communications Commission deadline to deploy half the constellation by July.

After SpaceX completed all three of its contracted missions for Amazon Leo earlier this year with Falcon 9, remaining launch orders include 38 ULA Vulcan Centaurs, 18 Arianespace Ariane 6s and up to 27 New Glenn rockets from Blue Origin.