Many main airways are beefing up their in-flight web choices by tapping SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, however JetBlue goes in a special path. Amazon and JetBlue announced Thursday a partnership beneath which the airline will as a substitute use Amazon’s Undertaking Kuiper satellites to offer free in-flight connectivity beginning in 2027.
The Kuiper terminals on JetBlue’s planes shall be able to obtain speeds of as much as 1Gbps from Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellites. That’s extra bandwidth than Starlink’s present max of 250 Mbps, though Amazon is just planning to construct a community of three,226 satellites, whereas SpaceX has launched greater than 8,000. Whereas Amazon has beforehand claimed it’s extra centered on “unserved and underserved communities around the globe,” that language has been faraway from its web site.
When the service goes dwell, JetBlue would be the first airline to make use of Kuiper satellites, which Amazon began launching to house in April. Amazon additionally introduced earlier this year that it was integrating its satellite tv for pc web tech with Airbus planes.
These contracts are huge steps for Kuiper, which has been within the works for years. The mission has been slowed down by manufacturing issues, though Amazon has stated it will likely be in a position to hit the mid-2026 deadline imposed by the Federal Communications Fee to launch the primary half of its community into orbit.