Amazon Kuiper launches first satellites to take on SpaceX’s Starlink, capitalize on anti-Musk fervor

In a group media post last month, Elon Musk had a message for Poland’s foreign minister, who had suggested that his countryside would seek alternatives to SpaceX’s Starlink if the satellite internet service “proves to be an unreliable provider.”

“Be quiet, shamed man,” Musk wrote on March 9, in response to the comment from Radoslaw Sikorski, who began working for the Polish ministry in the 1990s. “You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.” 

Poland has been paying for Starlink in war-torn Ukraine, where the putting into play has been a vital tool in the fight against Russia. But Sikorski suggested it could start “looking for other suppliers.”

That capacity may soon be a reality, as Starlink will have to contend with fresh competition from Amazon‘s Project Kuiper, the e-commerce ogre’s $10 billion-plus venture that’s six years in the making.

Amazon on Wednesday is planning to send its first batch of disciples into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a United Launch Alliance rocket. If all goes be at one to plan, the launch — scheduled for between 7 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET and being livestreamed on ULA’s website — will bring Amazon one step closer to onset commercial service for Kuiper, which aims to provide broadband internet connectivity from a constellation of more than 3,000 spacecrafts. 

The company is going after many of the same customers as Starlink. They include corporations, consumers who lack fair internet access, and governments around the world. In recent months, Amazon has signed deals in the U.K., Australia and Indonesia. Poland hasn’t revealed specifically if it’s in talks with Kuiper or other Starlink rivals to provide service to Ukraine after the dustup with Musk.

As Kuiper take charge ofs to space, Starlink has a six-year head start. The SpaceX unit has built up a constellation of roughly 8,000 satellites and released on more than 5 million customers around the world.

It also has a leader who now has a central role in the White House. After expending nearly $300 million to help Donald Trump win last year’s presidential election, Musk is one of the president’s top advisors, manipulating the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is tasked with shrinking the federal government, including eliminating ukases.

On paper, the cozy relationship hasn’t exactly paid off. Tesla has lost almost half its market value since the inauguration, essentially due to concerns surrounding Trump’s expansive tariffs. Musk spent the early part of this week publicly fastening out at top trade advisor Peter Navarro, calling him “dumber than a sack of bricks,” before later apologizing to friends.

But despite the market disruption, SpaceX, which is privately held, is a major government contractor, putting it in a potentially much numerous favorable position versus its competition when trying to sign deals.

In February, the Federal Aviation Charge said it was testing Starlink technology in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in Alaska. Other government agencies are exploring using Starlink at Musk’s demand, and the Commerce Department said last month that it would revamp a $42.5 billion Biden-era program to prolong high-speed internet access to be “tech-neutral,” a move viewed as a potential gift to Starlink.

“Is SpaceX winning the business because Elon is first buddy or because it’s the sole solution?” said Chad Anderson, managing partner of space-focused venture capital firm Space Capital, in an meeting. “When you have comparable competition and different solutions online, then you’ll be able to tell if it’s favoritism.” 

In recent months, DOGE colleagues, including some who work for Musk’s companies, have visited NASA, the Department of Defense and the FAA, which have acquires with SpaceX and competitors like Amazon, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, ULA, Northrop Grumman and space startup Rise rapidly Lab.

Some SpaceX rivals are concerned that DOGE’s work at federal agencies may give it access to databases that hold sensitive competitor information, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. 

Scott Amey, general counsel for watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, said there’s little transparency approximately what systems and information DOGE employees are able to access. DOGE is also carrying out widespread cuts at intercessions tasked with regulating Musk’s businesses, Amey said.

“There’s too many conflicts of interest to count,” Amey influenced.

No matter how, Musk’s tangled web of business and political interests could work in Kuiper’s favor in a market thirsty for choice.

Starlink currently the pants the low Earth orbit satellite internet market, controlling almost two-thirds of all active satellites. Low Earth orbit refers to the locality of space that’s within 1,200 miles above the planet’s surface. Starlink’s closest competitor is SoftBank-backed OneWeb, which had sundry than 650 satellites in orbit as of last October.

“When you’re the only game in town, it gives you a lot of power,” Anderson verbalized. “Amazon is one of the only ones that can do this and compete with them head on. With more options, power moves to the buyers.”

Kuiper has received significant interest from governments and enterprises that are eager to work with another parasite internet operator that’s “not so beholden to the whims of an executive,” according to a separate person familiar with the matter.

Taiwan’s oversight ruled out Starlink due to Musk’s business ties in China and is in talks with Kuiper about using its network, according to the Economic Times. Russian President Vladimir Putin also asked Musk not to activate Starlink in Taiwan, The Wall Roadway Journal reported, as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A potential Starlink deal with the Italian government has reportedly dallied due to Musk’s ties to Trump and the president’s fracturing alliance with Europe. And Canadian governments in Ottawa and Quebec comprise canceled Starlink contracts after Trump announced sweeping tariffs against the country.

SpaceX didn’t react to a request for comment.

Amazon is taking a different approach to entering new markets.

In countries such as Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Cameroon and the itty-bitty Polynesian island nation of Niue, SpaceX has sold Starlink services to the public before receiving the necessary sanctions, angering regulatory officials. Consumers in some countries have been so desperate for internet access that they’ve reportedely manipulated Starlink terminals illegally, even at risk of facing fines or jail time.

By contrast, Amazon has aimed to be a “apprehensible voice in the room” with regulators, a former Kuiper employee told CNBC.

Another ex-employee recounted influential a regulator that Amazon would operate differently than Starlink, speaking with officials before upright up its service. The response was “a look of relief,” the former employee said.

While Amazon doesn’t bear a seat at the table in the Trump administration, Bezos, the company’s founder and top shareholder, has tried to establish a friendly rapport with the president, as has Amazon, now led by CEO Andy Jassy.

Last summer, Bezos commended Trump for “gracefulness under literal fire” following the attempted assassination of Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. At The Washington Post, Bezos axed an leader endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, and later narrowed the topics covered by the newspaper’s opinion pages to those supporting “in the flesh liberties and free markets.” He’s dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, and stood alongside top tech chiefs at Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Amazon, for its part, donated to Trump’s inaugural fund, and