--- title: Amazon files FCC application for 5,105 satellites to... description: Amazon has filed an FCC application to deploy 5,105 satellites for direct-to-smartphone internet service, with deployment starting in 2028. The plan merges... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-files-fcc-application-for-5-105-satellites-to-deliver-internet-directly-to-phones-kd4xb1ebu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Amazon files FCC application for 5,105 satellites to deliver internet directly to phones | daily.dev og:description: Amazon has filed an FCC application to deploy 5,105 satellites for direct-to-smartphone internet service, with deployment starting in 2028. The plan merges... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-files-fcc-application-for-5-105-satellites-to-deliver-internet-directly-to-phones-kd4xb1ebu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/kD4xB1EBu.png og:image:alt: Amazon files FCC application for 5,105 satellites to deliver internet directly to phones og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Amazon files FCC application for 5,105 satellites to deliver internet directly to phones **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Amazon has filed an FCC application to deploy 5,105 satellites for direct-to-smartphone internet service, with deployment starting in 2028. The plan merges Amazon's Kuiper broadband network with Globalstar's spectrum licenses, acquired for $11.6 billion. Once operational, Amazon would operate over 8,300 satellites, making it the second-largest satellite operator after SpaceX. Key challenges include a tight regulatory deadline to deploy 3,232 first-generation Kuiper satellites by July 2029, and a launch setback after Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket was grounded following a pad explosion. The direct competitor is SpaceX's Starlink Mobile, already partnered with T-Mobile, though satellite-to-mobile traffic remains a tiny fraction of overall network usage. ## Content Amazon has asked the FCC to approve a new constellation of 5,105 satellites designed to send internet connectivity straight to smartphones, no cell towers required. Deployment is planned to begin in 2028. The filing combines Amazon's existing Kuiper broadband infrastructure with assets from Globalstar, which Amazon is acquiring for $11.6 billion. That deal is expected to close in 2027 and is the key piece here — Globalstar holds the terrestrial spectrum licenses that make it legal to transmit directly to phones. Once the combined fleet is operational, Amazon would have over 8,300 satellites in orbit, making it the second-largest satellite operator after SpaceX. Amazon currently has around 390 Kuiper satellites in orbit and faces a regulatory deadline to deploy all 3,232 first-generation satellites by July 2029, so the timeline is already tight before adding a new 5,000-satellite program on top. The direct competition here is with SpaceX, which already offers satellite-to-mobile service through Starlink Mobile in partnership with T-Mobile. That said, the commercial case for this technology is still pretty thin. T-Mobile's CEO recently noted that satellite usage accounted for just 0.0002% of total network traffic — impressive as a backup, but not exactly a mass-market product yet. Amazon also has a launch problem. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, which was expected to carry Kuiper satellites, was grounded after a pad explosion in May. That's a significant logistical headache for a company already racing against a deployment deadline. What Amazon does have is money. With $255 billion in current assets, it can absorb setbacks that would sink smaller competitors. Whether satellite-to-mobile ever becomes more than a niche emergency feature is still an open question, but Amazon is clearly betting it will. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Amazon Leo has enough satellites to take on Starlink](https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-leo-has-enough-satellites-to-take-on-starlink-ugijgewug) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Amazon in talks to buy satellite operator Globalstar](https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-in-talks-to-buy-satellite-operator-globalstar-m2ij2zka7) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [FCC gives Amazon Leo more time on satellite deployment but strips its spectrum priority](https://daily.dev/posts/fcc-gives-amazon-leo-more-time-on-satellite-deployment-but-strips-its-spectrum-priority-at7exswko) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [SpaceX wants to launch 100,000 more Starlink satellites - for 100x the bandwidth](https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-wants-to-launch-100-000-more-starlink-satellites---for-100x-the-bandwidth-ausq1q4cy) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#tech-news](https://daily.dev/tags/tech-news), [#amazon](https://daily.dev/tags/amazon), [#spacex](https://daily.dev/tags/spacex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-files-fcc-application-for-5-105-satellites-to-deliver-internet-directly-to-phones-kd4xb1ebu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Amazon files FCC application for 5,105 satellites to deliver internet directly to phones","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-files-fcc-application-for-5-105-satellites-to-deliver-internet-directly-to-phones-kd4xb1ebu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-files-fcc-application-for-5-105-satellites-to-deliver-internet-directly-to-phones-kd4xb1ebu"},"datePublished":"2026-07-27T19:57:46.540Z","dateModified":"2026-07-27T19:58:21.462Z","description":"Amazon has filed an FCC application to deploy 5,105 satellites for direct-to-smartphone internet service, with deployment starting in 2028. 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